The New Guild In Town
by Luci Fergess
Summary: The rumor of the brand-spanking new guild located just on the other side town from Fairy Tail is a popular one, along with the suspicions of the guild being dark. That is until the guild master of said guild sets the story straight. The mysteries surrounding this new guild keep growing, however good-willed (well, somewhat…) the members appear to be. Full sum inside...(On Break)
1. Chapter One: The Ramen Shop

_**AN: I know, I know, you all are probably thinking something along the lines of, "What in the hell was the loon thinking, starting yet another story, when she has failed to update her other two or get the remaining two adopted?!" And here is my answer:**_

_**THE DAMN PLOT BUNNIES WON'T LEAVE ME ALONE. **_

_**So yes, here is another story from the ever wonderful moi~! **_

_**Bleach/Fairy Tail xover starting~ I have a Harry Potter fanfic in the works too, possibly even a Bleach/D. Gray Man fanfic xover. Oh, and I'm still working on my Maximum Ride fanfic. And the damn Blue Exorcist fanfic….**_

_**Summary: The rumor of the brand-spanking new guild located just on the other side town from Fairy Tail is a popular one, along with the suspicions of the guild being dark. That is until the guild master of said guild sets the story straight. The mysteries surrounding this new guild keep growing, however good-willed (well, somewhat…) the members appear to be. Of course Fairy Tail is called in, but what happens when Makarov recalls the guild's past, along with all the bloodshed and war it was involved in? And to make matters worse, there is suddenly a price on the dear head of the new guild master. How will this tale end?**_

_**Disclaimer: First and last one people – I DON'T OWN FAIRY TAIL, AND I SURE AS HELL DON'T OWN BLEACH. **_

_**As you can tell, witty disclaimers are not my forte. But meh. **_

_**On with the story~!**_

* * *

Chapter One: The Ramen Shop

It was a fine day in Fiore, and many citizens were roaming the streets, going in and out of shops and restaurants, chattering amongst themselves.

Inside one shop in particular, is where our story begins. It was named Urahara Shoten, and it sold many different things, from information to magical items, depending on who was buying. However its main business was the to-die-for ramen it sold. The shabby shop was known all across Fiore for it's amazing ramen, and it drew in tourists by the truckload.

And it was today, inside Urahara Shoten, which a conversation started that would change Magnolia forever.

"Oi, didja hear? There's a new guild in town." A man murmured. Almost everyone looked up from their bowls with mild curiosity. A few even groaned.

"Hopefully their not a bunch of idiots with brute strength like Fairy Tail," Someone grumbled.

"Hmph. They've been open for three days and no one has seen a single soul in that place. Even at night, when the place is a mess. Bright and loud, sure, but still no people to be seen." Someone said mysteriously.

"Yeah, and I went to put up a request last night. It was lit up and loud, but as soon as I open the door the lights go out and there's no one in sight." A woman said with a tremble.

"Hmm…is it a legit guild, or a dark one? Seems awfully fishy, to be a legit one." Someone muttered.

"Yeah! I bet it is a dark guild!" Someone said angrily. There were collective words of agreement passed around the room.

Suddenly, there was a bang as someone hit their fist on a table, startling everyone from their mutterings.

The offender was a teen, maybe 15 or 16 years old. He had a shock of orange hair, which was so bright it couldn't be anything but natural. Lightly tanned skin, warm cow-brown eyes, chiseled jaw, leanly muscled body clad in tight jeans and a hoodie with a strange design, long legs and a scowl donning his face, the boy looked stunning.

He cleared his throat and set his chopsticks down on his bowl. "You know, it's not our fault we're trying to clean up the place before letting anyone in. And my guild is a legitimate as any. Know your facts before running your mouths." With that, he rose and headed to the payment counter. "Oi, Hat and Clogs, thanks for the meal. I'll tell Grimm to come pay for it later on. I forgot my wallet at the guild."

"Yeah, yeah, like I haven't heard that excuse before. Don't worry about it, it's on the house. Consider it your guild warming gift. 'Cuz you sure as hell aren't getting anything else!" Someone yelled from the back. A tick mark appeared on the orangette, and he began to say something back but was interrupted.

"Wait, are you saying you're a member of the new guild?" Someone asked suspiciously. The boy turned with a smirk towards the direction of the anonymous voice, and then did a shallow bow.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, 2nd master of the new guild. I hope to have business with you someday." As he bowed, there was a collective gasp, then laughter ringing around the room. The boy, now dubbed as Ichigo, scowled. "What?" Ichigo asked.

"_You're_ the master of the guild? You can't be older than 18!" A man nearby exclaimed, and let out a chuckle.

"15, actually." Ichigo corrected.

"That's even worse!" The man gasped, now howling with laughter. Ichigo glared at the man, but said nothing.

"Did…did you say _2__nd_ guild master?" Someone asked. "Wasn't the guild established three days ago?" Ichigo's eyes hardened and his face became emotionless.

"As an official guild. I just won the title of master from the previous one a week ago, as a favor to a friend of mine, and then I registered the guild three days ago." Ichigo's face melted and was replaced by a scowl. "We used to run out of a mountain town called Karakura, and moved here for a fresh start." He finished.

"H-hey…I heard of a guild that went by the name of Las Noches located in the mountains…but it was a d-d-dark guild…" A woman stammered. Ichigo's scowl deepened, and he suddenly turned to the door.

"We're having an opening party tonight. Everyone'll be in their uniforms looking fancy. It'll be a good chance for all of you to see our guild." Ichigo began to leave, but a voice stopped him.

"Oi, what's your guild called?" Ichigo paused, and turned his head, looking over his shoulder.

"Hollow Moon." Ichigo turned his head back to the doorway, leaving the people in Urahara Shoten to stew.

Everyone in the shop had the same thought, and each reached the same conclusion. _Should we go? …Yes._

And so that night, people throughout Magnolia got dressed in nice clothes, and headed down to the opening party of the new guild, Hollow Moon, prepared for a nice evening.

Too bad someone invited Fairy Tail.

* * *

_**AN: So uh…hi? Um, please review and tell me what you think so far! I'm kinda iffy on the name of the guild, so if any of have a suggestion for it, feel free to share it. ^-^ Oh, and possible pairings? IDK. Not really a romance story here. Doesn't mean I can't sneak it in though. **_

_**So yeah. Tell me whatcha think. Is this story absolutely horrible? Amazing? Meh?**_

…

…

…

_**OFF TO WORK ON MY OTHER STORIES!**_

_**~ Luci-chan ^-^**_


	2. Chapter Two: The Guild

_**AN: Hey people! Glad you're still reading! ^-^ Well anyway, thank you to those of you who reviewed! I was so excited and happy when I read them! So anyways, due to boredom, I wrote this chapter out during my classes. I hope you guys enjoy it! -**_

_**So uh…OOCness may be in here…don't say I didn't warn you….**_

_**Oh, and in this story the arrancar and Ichigo (possibly Shirosaki might get tossed in there too) will be the main characters on the Bleach side for a good chunk of the story, but the Shinigami **_**are**_** featured in here as an important plot point. Also some OCs too. On the Fairy Tail side, Fairy Tail members like Lucy, Gray, Natsu, Makarov, Erza, Wendy, Gajeel, Mirajane, etc. will be the main characters. As for time periods… let's say in the Bleach verse it's sometime before Ichigo loses his powers, but after he learns the final getsuga tenshou. With some AU in there where everybody didn't die (But then again, since this is Bleach we're talking about, they'll probably be revived later on since Tite Kubo loves to troll us.). Since it's been awhile since I've read Fairy Tail, let's say it's a sorta time freeze of generalness sometime before Tenrou Island. *sweatdrop* I'm rereading so after I've caught up, I'll make it more specific…/shot/**_

_**Also...I may or may not be posting a new chapter for this story either every week or every other week. IDK, because my schedule is so messed up it's not even funny. **_

_**Ermm…don't think there's anything else I need to put up here….if there is, I'll put it down on the bottom. So, uh, ciao~!**_

* * *

Chapter 2: The Guild

"Oi, Grimmjow. The picture's still crooked, dumbass." Nnoitra said with a bored tone. Everyone was bustling about the building, putting the finishing touches on their new workplace and home.

Grimmjow was attempting to hang a picture of Ichigo and Nelliel on the wall behind the bar. He'd been at it for two hours, trying to make the frame straight.

A tick mark appeared on Grimmjow's forehead as Nnoitra continued to give him unwanted directions from his seat at the bar. Finally, he'd had enough.

"Shut the hell up, you bastard! Why the hell am I doing this? You can do it your fucking self!" Grimmjow shouted. Nnoitra grinned at Grimmjow.

"The fuck you say, bastard?" Nnoitra asked, leaning his freakishly tall frame over the bar counter to get in Grimmjow's face.

"Clean the wax out of your ears! I said to shut the hell up!" Grimmjow snarled.

"Why you little – " Nnoitra started, but was interrupted by a sharp slap to the back of his head. Grimmjow began to laugh at the look of shock and irritation on Nnoitra's face, but received a smack upside the head as well.

"No fighting in, on, or around my bar." Nelliel said, walking around the counter and taking the picture form Grimmjow's hand. She made some space on a shelf, then propped the picture against the wall in the space.

Nnoitra laughed as Grimmjow stared.

"Hah! This whole time you could have just propped it up! You dumbass! Hahaha!" Nnoitra laughed. He received a smack upside the head. "Ow!"

"No fighting!" Nelliel insisted.

"You bi – " Nnoitra began.

The doors to the guild opened loudly, announcing someone's entrance. Everyone began to panic – they hadn't even heard the person coming! But when they saw who it was, they knew why. It was their new guild master Ichigo.

"Hey you lazy bastard, nice of you pop in after we've already set up everything." Grimmjow called out. Ichigo glared at him, heading over.

"I'll have you know I was out inviting people, since _somebody_," Ichigo said 'somebody' loudly and shot a look at the fox-faced silverette Gin, "Forgot to." Ichigo sat on a stool at the bar, motioning over Nelliel who had wandered off.

"Ichigo!" The woman exclaimed excitedly, running over. There was a _poof!_ and a cloud of smoke surrounded Nelliel. A small green-haired child with shorter hair and a green dress flew out of the smoke, head-butting Ichigo in the stomach.

"Oof!" Ichigo flew off the barstool, landing with a loud thud on the floor.

"Itsygo! Welcome back!" The small child yelled, hugging the teen.

"Yeah, thanks Nel. Did you keep everyone out of trouble while I was gone?" Ichigo cradled Nel in his left arm, and stood slowly, glancing around the guild. Everything was more or less in one piece, and he couldn't spot any brawls happening.

"Huh. Looks good guys." Ichigo said, nodding his approval. "But uh…" Ichigo paused and glanced at the clock that was placed behind the bar. "No one's dress yet, and people will probably start arriving in two or three hours."

Everyone froze, beginning to look frantic.

Rolling his eyes, Ichigo lifted Nel so she could sit on his shoulder. "Well, what are you waiting for? The guild looks good so – " He didn't even finish his sentence before people started heading upstairs, where the guild's dorm rooms were. He sighed. _Still don't like listening to me, eh?_

Ichigo glanced at Grimmjow, who was still behind the bar, and Nnoitra, who was seated at it.

"Well? You guys going to change or what?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. Nnoitra rolled his one good eye and muttered something before heading towards the stairs, Grimmjow staying behind.

"What about you? Aren't you into your brand-new uniform? I'm curious to see what Szayel came up with for yours." Grimmjow asked, leaning on the bar.

"Yeah, as soon as I get Nel upstairs. You know how exhausted she gets whenever she uses her magic." Ichigo glanced down at Nel, who had wiggled off his shoulder and snuggled into his arms to nap. "I still don't know why she changes into this form whenever she sees me if it tires her out this much."

Grimmjow rolled his eyes, hopping the bar. He picked Nel up by the back of her dress, holding her in front of his face with a frown.

"You still don't understand her magic, do you?" Grimmjow asked, putting Nel's small body over his shoulder and securing her with his arm. "She shifts form according to what her environment makes her feel. When she feels safe, she goes into her child form, which takes the least amount of magic for her to keep up, and enables her to rest. When she's on guard or neutral, she is in her adult form. And when she goes on the offensive, she uses that weird goat-human-horse form." Grimmjow said, and noticing the blank look on Ichigo's face, sighed. "She transforms whenever she's around you because you probably make her feel safe. You, Pesche and Dondochakka are the only ones who do." Grimmjow frowned at Ichigo, then turned towards the stairs. "You better hurry. If Gin's done before you he'll end up being the one to greet everyone inside. Creepy bastard will probably scare everyone off."

Ichigo grinned and called after him, "Right-e-o Mr. Sexta!" Then turned and walked around the bar and to the end where the door leading to his room was. While the rest of his guild was upstairs, he had taken the one downstairs room for himself. A few of the guild members weren't as happy as the rest that they were a legal guild now, and Ichigo wouldn't put it past them to try to assassinate him in his sleep.

Once in his room, he dropped to the floor and reached beneath his bed, pulling out the neatly wrapped white box he had received from Szayel that morning. It was tied with a neatly pressed and perfectly proportioned red bow, and the words '_Your new uniform, Ichigo Kurosaki. I hope you like it, since I designed it myself. ~ Szayel'_ were written neatly on a tag attached by a string to the bow.

Paying no attention to the obvious care but into the packaging, Ichigo ripped open the box, holding up the white fabric inside. Seeing as the outfit wasn't horribly indecent, or incredibly out of fashion, Ichigo dropped the garments on the bed, and shed his clothes.

\(.\) TiMe SkIp Of LiKe 30 Or So (/.)/

Looking in the mirror, he nodded at his new uniform. It was a long white coat that reached his ankles, lined with black fabric. The sleeves were wide in a kimono-like fashion, and the tall collar reached the bottom of his ears. The coat had no buttons, it was simply connected mid-chest, showing off his guild mark, a black circle completely inked in. It opened back up mid-stomach. He had white hakama pants below the coat, and the pants were secured with a ruby red sash made of silk. He had black socks and white sandals adorning his feet.

Ichigo eyed his hair, which was starting to get a little bit too long for his liking. It now covered his eyes, and the back reached the bottom of his neck. _I need to get a haircut soon…_ Ichigo thought as he glanced up at the clock. _Oh shit!_

Ichigo turned and hurried out of his room, eyes widening as he saw at least half the guild already milling about in their various white uniforms. He hurried over to the most reliable person he could spot, which happened to be Ulquiorra.

"Hey, could you do me a favor, Ulquiorra?" Ichigo asked, walking up to him. The man glanced his way, his face blank.

"What is it you wish of me?" Ulquiorra asked in a monotonous voice.

"Well, would you mind going out and welcoming guests in, and helping people who don't know where the guild is find it? I'm afraid if I ask someone else some unpleasantness might occur." Ichigo said with a sheepish smile. Ulquiorra stared at Ichigo for a few short seconds before nodding and walking away.

Ichigo sighed in relief, and looked around. He saw Nnoitra trying to pick a fight with Grimmjow, Nel standing between them attempting to break it up. _So she changed back to her normal form and managed to get dressed in an hour and a half? Her recovery rate is getting faster. _"Oi! No fighting on guild grounds! If you do, you're on bar duty for the month, and you have to repair anything you break!" Ichigo yelled at them, and they both glared in his direction, but seemed to back down.

In another corner were Loly and Menoly sitting at a table, glaring at Ichigo. They were some of the ones that were less willing to change.

Then there was Yammy sitting at another table wolfing down food. "Hey, Yammy! Leave some for our guests, will you?" Ichigo shouted at him. He felt his eye twitch as Yammy flipped him off, not even turning his head.

At another table sat Starrk, Hallibel, Lilynette, Aaroniero, and Zommari, all silent and staring at different points on the walls. Well, mostly silent. Starrk was snoring, and Lilynette was hitting him, making a ruckus trying to wake him up.

At the table behind them sat the trio known as the 'Tres Bestias', which were basically Hallibel's underlings. They sat bickering amongst themselves, ocassionally standing and yelling, or slamming their fists on the table.

Barraggan sat at a table by the stairs, and was speaking to a small group of members which always followed him around, obeying his every command. They were Ggio, Choe, Charlolette, Abirama, Findorr, and Nirgge.

There were a 10-ish more people sitting at various tables that Ichigo still hadn't learned the name of. The rest of the guild, Ichigo assumed, were upstairs getting ready still.

He let out another sigh, headed over to an empty table and sat down. There was still about half an hour until the first few people started flowing in, and Ichigo wanted to rest a bit before having to deal with the hordes of people that would most likely hound him for a number of reasons. His young age, his past, the guild's past, why they were all dressed weird with black circle tattoos, and why a few people had numbers tattooed on them. Just to name a few.

And if the rumors he had picked up while walking around town were true, he was bracing himself for a chaotic mess that was bound to happen if a certain guild attended – Fairy Tail.

He heard people trickling downstairs a few at a time, and sighed when he felt his hair being ruffled.

"Ne, Ichi-chan, you need a haircut." Ichigo scowled at the voice, opening one eye to look at the man he knew it belonged to. There was Gin, in a white outfit like everyone else, smiling his signature fox-like grin with his eyes narrowed to slits.

Ichigo was about to reply when he heard the door creak open, and turned his attention to it.

Ulquiorra was standing in the doorway, staring an Ichigo with a blank face. "There are guests that have already arrived. Should I let them in?" He asked, hands in his pockets.

Ichigo groaned, letting his head fall forward into his hands, and then sighed once again. He stood slowly, and said loudly, "Let 'em in!"

Ulquiorra nodded and turned, walking back outside. When he returned a few seconds later, there were about ten people behind him, dressed nicely. Ulquiorra gestured them inside, and they scattered around the room, slowly engaging in conversation with different guild members.

As Ulquiorra guided in more and more people, Ichigo smiled.

_Let the party begin._

* * *

_**AN: Well hi there….thanks for reading all the way through! Hahaha, well, whaddaya think? I was in a rush to get this written out so I could post it today before I went to sleep. I'm so bad at meeting deadlines…**_

_**So, I'd like to thank all of those who reviewed! I was so happy when I got them I was skipping around my classroom. My classmates thought I was on something, and when I tried to explain the whole I-write-fanfiction-and-I-just-got-a-review-OMG thing to them and it similar to talking to brick walls. TT-TT **_

_**Anyway, I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint, and I'll try to have the next chapter written up soon. No promises though since it'll be a sorta important chapter, and I usually get writer's block on those. DX **_

_**So…yeah. Review, favorite, follow, and all that other fun stuff that spams my email. XD I had to make a special folder just for just so I could get to my other emails. X3 **_

_**Plot suggestions, ideas, pairings, etc. are welcome!**_

_**Ciao~!**_

_**~ Luci-chan**_


	3. Chapter Three: The Party

_**AN: Oh Hi. Sorry this chapter's a bit late, but I had a dance show and then I was at my cousin's house and then my mom was shitting kittens on the state of my room so I had to clean it up, which took the entire freakin' day. Oh and then there's the school projects.**_

_**But enough excuses. **_

_**I've been getting really nice review from people, and they make me so happy. Thank you to those of you who take the time to do that! It's what keeps me going on stories. **_

_**Um…warnings…possible OOCness, lots of swearing, and minor violence.**_

_**Anyway. I'm sure half of you have already stopped reading this and skipped to the chapter, so I'll shut up now. **_

_**ON WITH THE CHAPTER~!**_

* * *

Chapter 3: The Party

A young man stood just outside the doors of the famous Fairy Tail, debating whether or not he should go through with this.

On one hand, if it turns out the party was just a trick or something happened, Fairy Tail would be there to help. On the other, having Fairy Tail there would destroy any chances of having a calm evening.

To be safe, or to have peace?

Finally deciding he'd rather be safe than sorry, he sighed and reached up to the doorknob of the guild.

This was of course, since it was Fairy Tail, the exact moment Natsu was sent flying through the doors, a smug Gray standing in the doorway.

"Fix those doors! I just put them up yesterday!" Someone yelled from inside.

From the doorway you could see the normal playful brawl happening. Food, tables, chairs, and people were being sent flying across the room.

The young man sweat dropped at the sight of the chaotic guild. "U-um, excuse me…" He tried.

"Hi! A blonde girl said, popping up next to him. Her name was Lucy, he believed.

"Oh, uh, hi. I came here to tell you guys about the new guild's party that they're throwing." He said nervously.

"Oh, let me take you to the master then!" Lucy said with a smile. She grabbed the young man's hand and dragged him inside the guild.

*TIME SKIP*

"So basically you want us to go as extra security?" Makarov, the small old man known as the master of Fairy Tail and one of the Ten Wizard Saints, sat on the bar counter located at the back of the guild, listening to the request.

"Well…yeah, basically."

"Alright!" Makarov said with a grin. "I wanted to go anyways. Maybe try and offer peace or something so that we wouldn't end up like we did with Phantom Lord." He said as he hopped off the bar. "Mirajane! Tell the guild members we're going to a party!" Makarov said happily to the white-haired woman that was working the bar.

"Yes master!" She walked out from behind the bar and headed into the brawling mass.

"Hey, show us where it is, will you?" Makarov looked at the young man who had come to tell them of the party.

He forced a smile. "Sure thing!" _But I wanted to go with my date…_ He mentally sobbed.

"Um, master?" Mirajane came up to where they were standing. "The only ones available right now are Natsu, Erza, Lucy, Gray, and Happy." She said gesturing to the small group of teens and a flying cat gathered by the broken door.

Makarov nodded his approval to her. "Okay, thanks. You're in charge while I'm gone Mirajane."

She nodded her understanding to him as he walked over to the group of teenagers with a grin, the still unnamed young man close behind.

"You guys ready for a party?" Makarov asked. The four teens and cat looked down at him, their bickering temporarily stopping.

"I wonder if they have strong people there?" Natsu said with excitement.

"Is fighting all you ever think about?" Gray asked.

"Gray! Where are your clothes?!" Lucy exclaimed.

"My clothes? What do you – " He glanced down at himself. "Holy crap! Where'd my clothes go?!"

"Just go get dressed!" Everyone shouted in unison.

Anyway, it was good thirty minutes until they set off. When they finally did, Gray was fully clothed, Erza and Lucy were both in dresses, Natsu was fired up and eager to see the new guild, and Makarov was laughing heartily.

_This is going to be a long walk…_ The young man thought.

:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:

The party was going surprisingly smoothly, which was making Ichigo very jumpy. No one had approached him to question him yet, instead engaging in civil conversation with different guild members.

Every time Ulquiorra led inside another group of people, he would watch them like a hawk until he was sure they weren't going to start any trouble.

So when Ulquiorra escorted in a group of bickering teenagers with a talking cat, a troubled looking man and a small old man, Ichigo was almost relieved. As he looked closer, he could see a guild mark on the pink haired boy's arm, and he studied it. It looked like it was the guild mark of Fairy Tail, but he wasn't sure.

Ichigo decided he would go and greet them to see what their intentions were. As he approached, he raised an eyebrow at their conversation, and the fact that the troubled looking man was hurrying away.

"Gray! Where did your shirt go?!" The blond girl asked.

"Eh?!" The black-haired guy exclaimed, looking down at himself.

"Wow! Everyone looks so strong! I'm getting all fired up!"

"Hehehe~ all these women are very nice~" The old man said with a perverted grin.

"I agree with Natsu. Everyone here seems very strong." The red head noted, examining various people.

"I wonder if they have fish?" The oddly colored cat asked.

Ichigo smiled at the cat, it reminded him of his old teacher, Yoruichi. He stopped beside the blonde girl, smile still in place.

"Hello. Welcome to our guild, Hollow Moon." Ichigo said, giving a shallow bow. They all stared at him curiously, and he straightened up. "Would I be wrong in assuming you are members of the guild Fairy Tail?"

"Nope! I'm Makarov, master of Fairy Tail." The old man said with a grin. "This is Lucy, Natsu, Erza, Gray, and Happy." He pointed to each person, and the cat. He turned back to Ichigo. "And who might you be?"

Ichigo crouched down and held out his hand to the old man. "I'm Ichigo Kurosaki, the guild master. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Ah, yes. Ichigo, what a cute name." The old man said smiling, and shook his hand. Then it donned on him what Ichigo had said. "_G-guild master?!_" Makarov exclaimed.

"Yeah, I'm the guild master." Ichigo repeated. He chose to ignore the comment on his name and not to correct him.

"But you can't be any older than 18!" Makarov cried.

"15, to be exact." Ichigo said casually. _Why do I feel like I've had this conversation before?_ He wondered.

"How ever did you become a guild master, boy?" Makarov asked.

"Um…long story. Bunch of stuff happened, and the Magic Council made me the master of this guild." Ichigo explained shortly. It really was too long and complicated to tell, along with the fact that it would reveal the guild's past and probably get them pitchforked and torched out of the town.

"Hmm…you must be very strong for the council to acknowledge your power enough to make you a guild master." Makarov said. Ichigo smiled wryly at him and scratched the back of his head.

"Well, that's not exactly why I'm the master, but it's close enough." He said, standing up. Natsu planted himself in front of him, a determined look on his face.

"Hey, fight me will you?" Natsu asked excitedly.

"Why?" Ichigo raised an eyebrow at him, crossing his arms. Natsu was going to reply when Erza smacked him in the back of his head.

"Don't pick fights with random people!" She scolded.

"But he isn't a random person! He's the guild master, and I want to fight him!" Natsu exclaimed.

Bickering between the teens ensued, and Ichigo watched with interest.

"Ne, Ichi-chan, what do we have here?" Gin asked, coming up behind Ichigo and slinging an arm over his shoulder.

Ichigo lifted Gin's arm off him, frowning. "What do you want Gin?" He growled.

"Aw, don't be like that Ichi-chan~" Gin said sadly, his foxy grin turning to a frown for a brief moment. Ichigo sighed and raised a hand. He began to gesture to the Fairy Tail guild members.

"We have guests from Fairy Tail. I'd appreciate it if you didn't screw with their heads, 'kay Gin?" Ichigo said, giving a pointed look to the silverette.

"Okay, okay I won't." Gin held his hands up and grinned, then turned and left swiftly. Ichigo watched him go and sighed again, shaking his head.

"As you can see, we have some interesting characters here. And Gin's not even the worst of the bunch." Ichigo turned back to the group of Fairy Tail members. "Oh, pardon me. Feel free to mingle. I told everyone to be on their best behavior." He smiled politely, sweeping a hand out to gesture to the feast laid out and everyone talking and walking around. They all nodded and the boys headed to the feast while Erza and Lucy headed off into the crowd.

Ichigo followed the boy's direction, deciding to grab a bite to eat himself. All he had today was ramen, and his stomach was growling. On the way there he was assaulted by Nel, who changed to her child form, her usual green dress now white.

"Itsygo! Gwimm-tan is getting bullied by Nnoi-tan!" She exclaimed, pointing over to where Grimmjow and Nnoitra were fighting. Nnoitra had Grimmjow in a head lock and was giving him a noogie, while Grimmjow was shouting and clawing at Nnoitra's arms.

Ichigo stifled his laughter as he headed over to the pair. When he was around 20 feet away, he whispered to Nel, "Hey Nel, you think you could use your head butting move on Nnoitra? It'll make this a lot easier."

"Okay! Nel will do her best!" She fist pumped and climbed onto his shoulder. Then she launched herself off him and shouted something about head butting. She hit Nnoitra in the stomach, sending him flying into the wall and making him release Grimmjow. Ichigo came up behind Grimmjow and grabbed him by the collar to keep him from going over to Nnoitra.

"Good job Nel!" Ichigo gave her a thumbs-up with his free hand, and the girl grinned. He then rounded on Grimmjow and Nnoitra who were glaring at each other. "And just what the hell were you guys doing?" Ichigo growled.

"He started it!" Grimmjow shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Nnoitra.

"Bullshit! You're the one that bumped into me!" Nnoitra shouted back.

"I DON'T CARE WHO STARTED IT!" Ichigo yelled over the two of them. "What did I say about fighting?" Ichigo glared at both of them, but they didn't answer. "Okay, since it seems you've forgotten, I said anyone who fights on guild grounds is on bar duty with Nel for the rest of the month. That means no jobs for you guys, and you're going to be doing all the heavy lifting for her, along with whatever else she wants you to do."

"That's bullshit! Why do I have to take orders from you? You're younger, weaker, smaller, and less experienced than me, so how can you just order me around?" Nnoitra roared. Everyone was staring at the scene now, watching with interest and fear.

"Nnoitra – " Grimmjow started, but Ichigo held up a hand, cutting him off.

"It's okay Grimm." Ichigo said stepping in front of Nnoitra's towering form. "Nnoitra, I may be all those things, and many more. But I want you to remember that I'm also the only thing standing between you and the Magic Council, and I sacrificed a lot of shit to save not only your ass, but everyone else in the fucking guild. I've been tolerant of your bullshit for the past week, but it stops now. You better give me the damn respect I deserve, or I'll drag your ass to the Council myself. Understand?" Ichigo hadn't raised his voice, he hadn't shouted or screamed. His tone was quiet and perfectly even, but it screamed danger.

Nnoitra swallowed and looked away, hissing, "Yes." Ichigo nodded in approval and stepped back, turning on his heel. He clapped his hands together, a grin on his face. "Sorry about that everyone! Don't worry about it; just go back to whatever you were doing." He could feel all the different looks being directed towards him, but he ignored them. From a few guild members he felt glares; from guests he felt both fearful and curious looks, and on the Fairy Tail members he could see shocked faces. He sighed as everyone slowly started moving and talking again.

He jumped as he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey Ichigo, you okay? It's not like you to snap like that…" He heard Grimmjow say worriedly. Ichigo rubbed his eyes and tilted his head back, letting out a groan.

"I'm just stressed. I've been wracking my brain for ways to get Shiro out of prison; I have a shit load of paperwork to do still for the legalization of this guild, and the agreement between us and the council. Then I have to go down and help Urahara out with his shop this weekend because Jinta has a cold. And my sisters wrote me saying how much they miss me and that they want me and Shiro to go visit them. They still don't know he's locked up. And then Nnoitra wants to give me shit over bar duty? Fuck that." Ichigo took a deep breath after his explanation, looking at Grimmjow.

"Oh it'll be alright Ichigo. It always is for you and your damn brother. You two are the luckiest bastards I've ever met, even more than that dumbass Ikkaku." Grimmjow said with a grin.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Ichigo muttered as he strained to see the clock that was across the room behind the bar. "Shit, it's already 9:00?" Ichigo muttered. "Oi Grimm, get your ass behind the bar, and take Nnoitra and Nel with you." Ichigo said walking over to the table where the majority of people were at. He noticed a lot of the guild members that were sitting before had now stood and began to walk around to talk with others.

He looked around for a spot to sit and saw a seat next to Szayel and Yylfordt. Across from them was Natsu wolfing down more food than should have been logically possible, with Gray eating at a more reasonable pace. The cat Happy was hoarding fish on a plate next to Natsu, grinning like a madcat.

Walking with a swift pace, he threw himself on the chair next to Szayel. "Yo." Ichigo greeted, grinning at Szayel. "How's my favorite nutty scientist doing?" He joked. Szayel looked at him blankly.

"Bored. I haven't experimented on anyone for the past week, I've been so busy. I almost considered cloning myself, but that would take too much of my precious time up." Szayel said almost lazily.

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I know what you mean…" He grumbled. "Oh, and thanks for my uniform…it's actually not half as bad as I thought it would be."

Szayel made a shocked and insulted expression. "Since when do I ever make something of poor quality?" Szayel asked.

"Since that one time when you – " Yylfordt started, but was shushed by a glare from Szayel.

"We agreed to never speak of that." He hissed.

Ichigo rolled his eyes at the brothers, turning his attention away from them. He instead focused on Natsu and Happy, who were patting their stomachs in a satisfied manner.

"Man that was good, right Happy?" Natsu said with a content sigh.

"Aye!" The blue cat agreed.

"I'm glad you like it." Ichigo said, reaching over and grabbing a roasted leg of some sort of animal. "I'll be sure to tell Nel you liked it. She stayed up half the night trying to find all these recipes." Ichigo said, taking a bite of the leg and chewing.

"Nel?" Gray asked curiously.

"The green-haired munch. She's usually clinging to my back or head butting someone." Ichigo explained.

"No, she's actually the busty green-haired woman with a red tattoo on her face, and the scar on her forehead." Yylfordt corrected. "She's only a kid around you, Ichigo." He said, waving his fork at Ichigo.

"Oh yeah! I think I saw her earlier…" Natsu exclaimed. "Hey, tell me, is she strong?" He asked excitedly.

"Well…" Ichigo started.

"Are you kidding?" Yylfordt asked incredulously. "She's fucking scary strong! Nearly took off my head once with that damn lance of hers!" Yylfordt cried.

"Oh get over it. I already patched you up good as new. When will you ever let go of it?" Szayel asked, rolling his eyes with an exaggerated sigh.

"When I get an apology from 'er!" Yylfordt said around his food.

"You know she probably doesn't even remember it, right?" Ichigo asked, turning and chunking the cleaned off bone in the nearest trashcan. Yylfordt began muttering things under his breath, and Ichigo ignored him.

"Anyway, Nel fixed this feast for us, with some help from Pesche and Dondochakka of course." Ichigo said, gesturing to the food. "She's an amazing cook, I tell you. The other night she made this soup, and _man_ did it taste good."

"Maybe we should have Lucy learn to cook from her. She only serves us coffee and tea at her house." Happy said to Natsu.

"Yeah! That's a great idea!" Natsu agreed.

"What's this about me learning to cook?" The blonde Lucy asked, coming up behind Natsu suddenly. "Maybe if you guys didn't show up out of nowhere randomly in my house and let yourselves in without my permission, you'd get more than just coffee and tea!" There were several tick marks on Lucy's head, and Ichigo grimaced.

"I know how that feels." Ichigo muttered. He then watched as Lucy began chewing out the two boys and cat, smirking at the fact that none of them were listening.

"Their antics are pretty amusing, huh?" He heard a voice say to his left. He glanced over and jumped about a foot in the air.

Makarov was sitting cross-legged on the table, a cheery grin on his face and a mug of beer in his hand.

"Yeah. Kind of reminds me of how my friends and I would act." Ichigo agreed, smiling a bit as well. He reached over and grabbed a strawberry from a dish nearby and took a bite, savoring its sweetness.

"Hmm. Where are your friends now, boy?" Makarov asked. He took a gulp of beer.

"Probably sleeping. It's already, what, 9:30? That is if they don't have any paperwork. Then they're probably doing that if they do." Ichigo said and shuddered at the memories of the piles of paperwork he would be assigned weekly.

Makarov laughed at that. "Yeah, paperwork can be pretty troublesome sometimes!" Makarov said, taking another gulp from his mug.

"Understatement of the year…" Ichigo muttered.

"Ahahaha…this has been a good party, Ichigo. It's a pity we didn't get to talk more, but I think it's about time for us Fairy Tail members to head back." Makarov held out his hand, and Ichigo took it.

"Thank you for coming. I hope we become good allies in the future." Ichigo grinned.

"And me as well. If you need any help running your guild, let me know. This old man has some experience in running guilds." Makarov stood up and jumped off the table, landing at the feet of his teenage guild members. "Now if we could just collect Erza, we could be on our way." Makarov muttered.

"Erza! We're leaving!" Natsu yelled, and Makarov gave him the thumbs up.

"Atta' boy Natsu!" Makarov praised, and Natsu grinned. They then headed towards the doors, Ichigo watching them as they left. Lucy turned to wake at him, and Ichigo waved back. Erza joined the group as they reached the doors, and they left.

Ichigo stayed seated where he was, watching as one by one the guests left, until they were all gone.

"Wow. That went…surprisingly well." Ichigo commented.

"For you maybe, but the rest of us actually had to socialize." He heard Di Roy complain as he sat down next to Ichigo.

"Oh really? How'd that go?" Ichigo asked.

"Ugh." Was all he got in response.

"I'll take that as a, 'it went horrible'." Ichigo laughed.

"They asked so many questions…" Di Roy cried, laying his head down on the table.

"Hmm…well, the good news is now we can all go to sleep. I expect we'll have few requests coming in, and we also have to tidy up the guild." Ichigo said, standing slowly and stretching.

"Yay…" Di Roy muttered unenthusiastically.

"All right everybody, let's hit the sacks! We can work on cleaning tomorrow!" Ichigo shouted, and then yawned. Without another word to anyone, he headed to his room.

"G'night Grimm." Ichigo muttered before walking over to the Nel, who hadn't spotted him yet, and thus hadn't transformed either. "G'night Nel." He said, before going into his room and locking the door. He stripped and grabbed some pajama pants and a t-shirt from his drawers and pulled them on, then collapsed on his bed.

_Tomorrow is going to be a long day…_

:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:

"So what did you think of the guild?" Erza asked. They were walking back to Fairy Tail, enjoying the night sky.

"I thought they were okay. Things got kind of awkward when they were fighting, though." Lucy said. "Wonder what that was all about…"

"I heard some of it. Something about how Ichigo was the only thing standing between the guild and the Council, and how he had sacrificed a lot for them." Gray said, frowning.

"Wonder what he meant by that…" Lucy wondered aloud.

"Did you see all those strong people there, though? I bet they would even give Erza some trouble when it came to fighting!" Natsu said.

"Aye! They were actually kinda scary when they were yelling." Happy said from Natsu's shoulder.

"Hmm…" Erza looked down at Makarov. "What about you, master?"

"They certainly were different…a teenager as a guild master? Appointed by the Magic Council, too? Something's not right." Makarov frowned. "Did anyone ask where they were from?"

"Ehh…Didn't that guy say something about them being from a mountain town called Karakura?" Erza said.

"Karakura?" Makarov asked sharply.

"Yeah…I think that's what he said." Lucy agreed.

"Then something's definitely not right." Makarov said as they reached the doors of Fairy Tail. "…I'll be in my office if anyone needs me." He muttered to Mirajane as she came up to greet them. He then hurried away.

"Well that was…strange." Lucy commented.

"Let's all just sleep on it." Gray said, and everyone agreed.

:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:

"Hollow Moon…there's no record of it…so how is it that Ichigo is it's 2nd guild master?" Makarov muttered, looking at several scrolls. "And the only two guilds that existed in Karakura were a legal guild named Soul Society and a dark guild named Los Noches…but how does this new guild fit into that?" Makarov wondered.

Makarov stayed up through the night, trying to answer his many questions. When he finally fell asleep, he was still at his desk, asleep on top of piles of papers, scrolls, charts, maps, and various other items.

When Mirajane came in, she sighed and covered him up with a blanket.

"Oh master…"

* * *

_**AN: Well, I hope this was worth the wait, and sorry if it seems a bit rushed and/or odd. I wanted to post this for you guys ASAP. **_

_**I hope everything in the chapter was reasonable and not too OOC. Idk though. **_

_**Review and tell me what you think, point out any errors or ways I could make someone more in character…the review are what keep me going and help me finish up in time to post weekly!**_

_**And also, there's still a chance for you to ask for pairings. Although it's not a romantic story, I could probably through some romance in there. And even some friendship pairings between Fairy Tail and Hollow Moon would be helpful, or who you think would be enemies etc. so I know what you guys want. **_

_**Um…yeah. 'Til next time-**_

_**~ Luci-chan**_


	4. Chapter Four: The Flyers

_**AN: I'm so sorry for this really late update! Please don't hate me! I was stressing over exams and then my friends and family wanted me to do a bunch of stuff with them so I couldn't finish and upload this chapter until today. Good thing is last week was my last week of school so I'm currently enjoying my summer vacation. So hopefully that means more time to write and update.**_

_**Umm warning - OOCness, swearing, possible violence, some random POV changing…and other stuff. c:**_

_**Hope you enjoy this chapter!**_

* * *

Chapter Four: The Flyers

The next few days after the party were relatively calm, with the occasional argument or brawl over trivial things. Like who's worthy of being an S-Class wizard, for instance.

Obviously the old top ranked members were going to definitely pass as S-Class wizards, plus Ichigo who already achieved S-Class rank previously. That made eleven total. That left the rest of the guild, though.

So in order to keep everyone from getting their panties in a twist, Ichigo declared all S-Rank missions to be off-limits until everyone had completed an S-Class wizard test. This decision was met by many complaints, but a few head butts from Nel shut most of them up.

Soon enough, it was the weekend. Ichigo was tempted to follow Starrk's example and laze around the entire Saturday, but a message from a certain Hat-and-Clogs trashed that idea.

It came in the form of a high-speed object rocketing through the open doors of the guild, splattering all over the wall next to the bar. It looked very much like some kind of b-rated horror movie, where the killer writes on the wall in blood or something.

The blood formed letters as it slid down the wall.

**Dearest Kurosaki-kun,**

**A certain humble shopkeeper would very much appreciate it you decided to volunteer your time at his shop as a ****slave**** employee for today. **

**In the case you should you refuse, I will remind you of the outstanding debt of which you owe me from the many free meals both you and your dear brother have received. **

**Kisuke Urahara  
A Very Humble Shopkeeper**

Ichigo stared at the message, as did the rest of the guild. _Yep. Definitely like a cheap horror movie._ As he thought this, the words reformed to say:

**P.S.  
Anyone who thought this looked like a cheap horror movie scene obviously has a very bad sense of humor.**

Ichigo's eye twitched as he glared at the words. _If that shit stains the wall or floor, so help me, I will…_ Ichigo stopped as the words changed again.

**P.P.S.  
It stains.**

Almost everyone in the guild swore.

* * *

"God damn Hat-and-Clogs. I'll kill the bastard one day, I swear it…" Ichigo muttered, pulling on a t-shirt and some jeans. He snatched a hoodie off the coat rack by his bed and yanked it on, then slipped on some sneakers. He completed the look with a couple bracelets and two necklaces.

On his way out he nabbed a baseball cap off his dresser and put it on, then yanked his hood up. This successfully covered his bright orange hair, and shadowed his face well enough that it would be hard to tell it was him. He really didn't want to get jumped by thugs because of his hair today. Ichigo was in enough of a pissy mood to send whoever decided to fuck with him to the hospital.

He strode out of his room as casually as he could, glancing around. He saw Nel bossing around Nnoitra and Grimmjow as they scrubbed the blood/paint stuff on the wall, Hallibel and the Tres Bestias beside them scrubbing too.

He approached Ulquiorra who was currently sitting and reading. He placed a hand on his shoulder and leaned down. "Tell the other I left for Urahara's. Make sure they behave, okay?" Ichigo murmured to him, and when he nodded he stood up and quickly left.

* * *

"Kurosaki-kun! Welcome!" Urahara said as Ichigo walked into the shop.

"Oh save it for someone who cares, damn Hat-and-Clogs." Ichigo grumbled.

Urahara unfolded his fan and held it front of his face, most likely hiding an extremely large grin. "My, my! Aren't we a little crabby this morning?" Urahara asked.

"Shut up." Ichigo growled, walking behind the counter. "What do you need me to do?" Ichigo asked, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"I need you to stand outside and hand out flyers for our Beef-Bowl Special promotion. Eat twenty nine bowls of the extra-large beef bowl within forty five minutes, and it's free. But if you fail, you have to pay for all of it." Urahara said gleefully, snapping his fan shut.

"Who can eat twenty nine bowls of ramen?!" Ichigo asked incredulously.

"Exactly." Urahara said, handing Ichigo a stack of papers. "Just go and walk around town handing these out. When you're done, you can come back here and eat a free meal, then go home." Ichigo stared at Urahara suspiciously.

"That's it?" He asked.

"That's it."

"…Fine." Ichigo took the papers and turned around. But before he could leave, Urahara stopped him by saying, "Oi, Kurosaki-kun, don't you think it would be better to take off that hat and pull down your hoodie?" Ichigo groaned and leaned his head on the wall.

"Yeah…" He then pulled his hood and hat off, and tossed the hat to Urahara. "Keep it safe for me Hat-and-Clogs." And then Ichigo left.

* * *

"Urahara Shoten's ramen special! Today only! Eat twenty nine bowls in forty five minutes, and it's free!" Ichigo called out on the busy road, handing out flyers. It was going surprisingly well. Apparently a lot of people in this town had bottomless pits for stomachs, or believed they did.

"Hey carrot-top, gimme one of those." A deep voice said behind him. Ichigo turned around, a flyer ready and a scowl in place.

"I'd prefer it if you didn't call me that." Ichigo growled, handing the flyer to the scuzzy guy.

"I can call you whatever I want to call you dipshit. Especially with that bright-ass dyed orange hair color. You think you look cool or somethin'?" The guy asked, and Ichigo's eyes twitched.

_Ignore it. Ignoreitignoreitignoreitignoreitignoreitignoreitig noreit._ Ichigo dismissed his inner alarm bells and glared at the man.

"You trying to start something?" Ichigo asked in a low voice.

"The fuck you mean am I trying to start something? You're the one starting shit. And now you're glaring at me. Oh, I'm so _scared_." The guy said mockingly with a grin.

"You just think you're all that and a bag of fucking chips, don't you?" Ichigo asked.

"What the hell did you just say? I'm gonna kick your ass, you know?" The guy said, getting into a fighting stance that looked stupid as hell. It was one of those 'praying mantis' poses.

"Alright, fine. Maybe I can knock some sense into you." Ichigo set the papers down on nearby stacked crates, and rolled his shoulders.

* * *

Natsu was minding his own business, walking down the street, Lucy and Happy with him. They were tagging along with Lucy on her trip to the local magic shop so she could look at the new keys they were supposed to get in today.

"Mannn…" Natsu moaned. "I'm so hungry…"

"You just ate!" Lucy exclaimed.

"So?"

"…" Lucy sighed and shook her head. There was no point in arguing with Natsu on the subject of food.

"Hey, wonder what's going on up there." Happy asked, and Lucy stood on her tippy-toes to try and see what the flying cat was talking about. There was a small crowd gathering around some random thug and an orange-head teen that looked oddly familiar.

"Is that…Ichigo?" Lucy asked.

"Aye!" Happy said, and Lucy began to panic.

"What's he doing? What if he gets beat up or something by that thug?" Lucy asked worriedly.

"Uh, Lucy, wasn't he the guild master or something of that new guild?" Natsu asked, stretching.

"Oh yeah! But still, he's just a kid, Natsu! He's even younger than us!"

"So? If he's a guild master, he must be pretty powerful. I've been wanting to fight him myself, actually." Natsu said casually.

"I don't care! You have to go help him Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Fine, fine…" They quickened their pace and broke through the crowd, only to see Ichigo cracking his knuckles with a grin on his face. He then made the 'Come At Me Bro' gesture, dropping into a loose defensive stance.

The thug charged, his fist cocked. "Take this, little shitty carrot-top!"

Ichigo dropped down into a crouch to dodge then shot up, head butting the thug in the chin. The thug reached out and grabbed Ichigo's shoulders to keep from falling, and using this to his advantage, Ichigo kneed the guy in the crotch. The thug bent over, clutching himself, moaning. Ichigo then elbowed him in the back which made the thug jerk upwards. He then grabbed his head and kneed him in the chin, sending the thug flying to the ground. Ichigo walked up to the thug who was trying to stand, and lifted his leg high, before bringing his heel down on the thug's side hard, causing him to cry out in pain.

The fight was completely one-sided.

* * *

After kicking the thug, Ichigo frowned.

"See what happens when you fuck with people? You get your ass handed to you. If I ever see you starting shit again, I'm gonna really kick your ass." Ichigo threatened, turning to pick up the flyers he had set down. The thug picked himself up and limped away, throwing glances back at Ichigo until he was out of sight.

Ichigo sighed and looked around, spotting two people and a flying cat he thought looked familiar. They were staring in awe at him, eyes wide and mouths open. They kinda looked like the Fairy Tail members that had attended the party a few days ago. If only he could remember their names…

"Oh. Uh…hey." Ichigo greeted. He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "What's up?"

They looked at for a few more seconds before huddling together and whispering to each other. Ichigo sighed.

_Here we go…_

* * *

Lucy glanced at Natsu. After recovering from the shock of seeing who they thought to be a calm, kind, and polite person (based upon their impressions from meeting him at the party) beat the shit out of someone with ease, they huddled together and began to whisper. The thug hadn't even stood a chance. Watching the fight was like watching Plu attempt to fight a dragon.

"D-did you see that?" Happy asked nervously.

"Yeah…he was really strong after all!" Natsu said excitedly.

"Idiot! Is fighting all you ever think about?!" Lucy asked for the millionth time.

"…No. I think about eating too." Natsu replied, grinning.

_He's an idiot. _Lucy thought, sweat-dropping. She then heard someone cough right behind them. All three of them whirled around and faced the person, who turned out to be Ichigo.

"Oh! Uh…hi, Ichigo!" Lucy greeted nervously. "Remember me? I'm Lucy, we met the other day at your party!"

"Yeah." Ichigo reached down to her, "Let me help you up." Lucy hesitantly took his hand. "So what're you guys doing here?" Ichigo asked after helping Lucy stand from her crouch. Natsu stood as well, while Happy sat on his shoulder.

"Well, we were on our way to go check out the gate keys the local magic shop was supposed to get today. But then we saw you in trouble and were about to help…but you know…you didn't really need any…" Lucy trailed off scratching the back of her head.

"Oh man, I really want to fight you now!" Natsu remarked, eyeing him gleefully.

"Yeah…maybe some other time, uh…what was your name?" Ichigo asked.

"My name is Natsu, and this is Happy!" Natsu said with a grin.

"Natsu. Maybe we could fight another time, yeah? I don't really have the time to fight you right now…" Ichigo gestured to the flyers in his hand.

"What are those?" Lucy asked, pointing at them.

"Does that say Urahara Shoten?" Happy asked.

"Uh, these are flyers for a special promotion Hat-and-Clogs is doing. Here." Ichigo handed each of them one and Natsu's eyes widened.

"Oh man! Look at this Happy! Free food!" Natsu turned to Lucy. "Can we go, can we go? Please?"

"Sure. But I'm not helping you pay for the ramen if you can't eat it all…" Lucy muttered, but then thought over her statement. "Oh, who am I kidding? Of course you'll be able to finish all the ramen."

"Well, I have to hand the rest of these out, but I'll probably see you in a bit." Ichigo said, turning and walking off with a wave.

"See ya!" Lucy called after him, watching him leave. After Ichigo was out of sight, she turned to Natsu. "Hey, you go ahead to Urahara Shoten, okay? I'm going to go tell Master about this. He told us to tell him anything that happens with Hollow Moon, remember? He's been locked in his study for the majority of the past couple of days researching about the guild, with no luck."

"Hmm…okay. See ya Lucy." Natsu said, turning to leave.

"Bye, Lucy! We'll save you some fish!" Happy said.

_But you're going to eat ramen…_Lucy thought. "Okay, bye!" She then turned and headed back in the direction they had come from.

* * *

Handing out the rest of the flyers had been a breeze, since there was only ten or so left in the first place. Ichigo sighed, and turned to head back to Urahara Shoten. It would take a while considering he was on the other side of town from it. He was now in the same area Fairy Tail was in, and a sudden idea popped into his head.

_Why not pop in and say hi, as well as introduce myself to everyone there?_ After all, he had only met six of them at the party. Surely there was a shit-ton more than that.

But he quickly scratched that idea when the sound of his stomach growling was heard. It sounded similar to a roaring lion, and he thought about it. When was the last time he had eaten?

…

…

…

…

Yesterday morning Ichigo believed he ate half a piece of toast.

The rest of the day he spent finishing up paperwork, dissolving a fight between Grimmjow and Nnoitra, getting Aaroniero to stop teasing Lilynette, and stopping Yammy from killing some random guild members that were trying to nurse his wounds from a recent request.

Damn it. He was fucking hungry.

So he used one his magic abilities, which he had learned from one of his old teachers Yoruichi called Flash Step. It allowed him to move incredibly fast in short bursts, so it looked somewhat like he was teleporting along a path. He'd be start one place, then disappear and reappear forty or so feet away, then disappear again and reappear forty or so feet away, and so on. It was fairly handy when he was in a hurry.

He reached Urahara Shoten within forty five seconds, no sweat. He had mastered that magic at age nine, so he was pretty good at it now.

He walked inside, but was almost immediately shoved back out by the mass of people inside. Using his height to his advantage, he saw inside was incredibly crowded. People had maybe two inches or so to move around in, but that was it.

It was also really loud, and it looked like people were cheering on someone. Ichigo tried his best to wiggle himself inside, with no luck. Getting rather irritated by his growling stomach and his lack of progress on his quest for food, Ichigo resigned himself to something he only did in absolute emergencies; he started plowing people over with no remorse.

He shoved, pulled, poked, and wiggled his way through the crowd, knocking more than a few people over and receiving more than a few curses and middle fingers stuck up at him. He reached the cash register somewhat intact. He had no idea what happened to his hoodie, and when it got taken off. At the moment though, he really didn't care. He jumped the counter, receiving a few yells of complaint from people.

"Oh stuff it. I work here." Ichigo yelled at them, but in the roar of the crowded shop, it sounded like he had whispered.

"Hat-and-Clogs! Where's my ramen?" Ichigo yelled, opening the door to the back hallway which led off to the kitchen, storage room, freezer, offices, bedrooms, and other rooms.

"You can have it later! Right now I want you to referee the current ramen contestants." Urahara said. He then walked Ichigo back through the door and pointed out the object of everyone's cheering – three people sitting at a table devouring ramen, several empty bowls already stacked up around them, with Ururu standing there with a stopwatch.

Ichigo jumped the counter once again and shoved his way through the hoard of people. "Hey Ururu, Hat-and-Clogs told me to referee this…but I don't see the reason to if you're here. You're pretty scary when you wanna be." Ichigo said, taking a spot next to her and staring at the three guys who were eating. He blinked and shook his head as he realized that it was actually three people and a cat. And one of the people was Natsu. And the cat was Happy.

He glanced at their piles of bowls, and felt his jaw drop. There were twenty six bowls in front of each, while the other two contenders only had eight. Yet they were still slurping down more ramen.

"Um, Kurosaki-san? They've only been at it for ten minutes, but they are already almost done. Will you watch them while I go and get more bowls of ramen?" Ururu asked timidly, handing him the stopwatch.

"Sure. Be careful." Ichigo called after her as she headed into the crowd.

He sighed and stared at Natsu. He was on his twenty seventh bowl now, but Happy was still working on his twenty sixth. How such a small cat could put away twenty six bowls of ramen was beyond him, so Ichigo simply wrote it off as the cat being jinxed with a bottomless pit for a stomach or something.

The other two were making progress; they were now on their tenth bowl. However they were starting to look a little green, so Ichigo got prepared to have to haul them to the bathrooms located in the back. Suddenly Ururu appeared next to him carrying six bowls of ramen.

She set them on the table, and Natsu pulled one towards him, Happy doing the same.

"That was fast." Ichigo noted, raising an eyebrow. Ururu pointed at the floor.

"I used a super-secret passage way." She said quietly.

"Ah."

"I'm done!" Natsu called to them, holding up his chopsticks in a victory pose. Ichigo glanced down at the stopwatch. Fifteen minutes. "Congratulations!" Ururu said, fist pumping shyly.

"I'm done too!" Happy yelled. He then laid down on the table and fell asleep.

"How did a cat beat us?" One of the other contestants asked. He then pushed away his bowl. "Screw it. I can't eat anymore."

"Me neither." The other said, pushing his bowl away as well.

"Well, that'll be $66.00, mister." Ururu said, holding out her hands. The two men slapped the money into her hand then stood shakily, leaving without another word. The crowds had mostly quieted down, or as much as a crowd of people could, and began to leave, their entertainment over.

Ichigo walked over to where Natsu was sitting, a grin on his face. "Congrats. You have successfully ruined Hat-and-Clogs' plan to make extra money." Ichigo said with more glee than was probably necessary.

"Thanks." Natsu said, stretching. "I'm gonna go back to the guild now. Oi, wake up Happy! Lucy's waiting for us!" The cat grumbled something and rolled onto his other side. Natsu sighed and scooped up the cat and cradled it. "See ya Ichigo!"

"Yeah, see you." Ichigo waved, watching the pink-haired guy walk out of the shop.

"Kurosaki-kun~!" Urahara shouted just as Ichigo was about to sit down and order some ramen. Ichigo sighed and stood back up, heading to the back hall to see what he wanted.

"What do you want Hat-and-Clogs?" Ichigo asked, finding the man in his office. He raised an eyebrow at the communication lacrima crystal sitting on his desk.

"It's not me who wants something, but him." Ichigo glanced at the lacrima crystal and walked around the desk so he could see who he was talking about. It was Starrk, surprisingly.

"What are you doing up?" Ichigo asked bluntly. Starrk yawned and blinked wearily.

"Lilynette woke me up." Both Urahara and Ichigo paled at that thought. The child's methods were not conventional when it came to waking others. But then again, waking Starrk is impossible unless you use unconventional methods. "So Ichigo, you really need to – " There was a crash behind him, and a lot of yelling. Starrk turned his head to see what was going on, and after a few moments sighed. "Please come back to the guild. I'm afraid Barragan won't be able to hold down the fort for much longer."

"What happened to Ulquiorra?" Ichigo asked worriedly. Starrk scratched the back of his head and frowned.

"Well…that's the problem really. Nnoitra was picking a fight with Grimmjow, Nelliel tried to stop them, and then Yammy jumped in wanting to fight them. Ulquiorra went over and knocked the fuck out of Yammy, then started ranting some shit about trash and emotions. Grimmjow told him to shut the fuck up, which led to him getting the shit smacked out of him too. Szayel attempted to drag Yammy's body away to do god knows what with it, but Aaroniero jumped in and knocked him out. Zommari demanded that everyone stopped fighting, but everyone told him to shut up. Barragan got pissed and ordered his little posse to go and beat everyone senseless. Didn't work." There were some loud booming noises, and Starrk ducked as a chair flew past.

"What the fuck was that noise?" Ichigo asked.

"Uh…" Starrk glanced back once again and winced. "You don't want to know."

"Starrk…" Ichigo growled.

"Just hurry over here, okay?" He glanced back again, and threw his arms up in the air. "Really guys? Put that down! It's brand ne – " There was a loud crash. "_Was_ brand new." He finished.

"I'll be there in a few seconds." Ichigo muttered, and disappeared. Urahara sighed.

"You know, I think he's gotten faster since the last time I saw his Flash Step Magic. I almost couldn't see him leaving." Urahara adjusted his hat and grinned.

"Yeah. He might be able to give that cat of yours a run for her money in a few years." Starrk agreed. The was a slamming noise, and Starrk looked back. "Oh, he's already here. I better go. Later." His image disappeared from the crystal.

"Poor Kurosaki-kun~ you just can't catch a break, can you?"

* * *

_**AN: Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this long awaited chapter. **_

_**It's a little bit long (nine pages on Word) but I think you guys deserve it for the long wait. Once again, I'm so sorry! But my schedule is fucked up, so there's not much I can do about it. **_

_**Please review and tell me what you thought about this chapter and parts you liked/disliked. Also any errors or mistakes you find, please tell me and I'll try to correct them. **_

_**Pairings, friendships, enemies, plot ideas, and suggestions are welcome!**_

_**Also, I'm looking for two OCs to use in an upcoming chapter! Have one you'd like to see in this story? Let me know! However I can only accept two, so please don't be disappointed if yours is not picked…**_

_**Uh…I think that's about it! Until next time!**_

_**Ciao~**_

_**~ Luci-chan**_


	5. Chapter Five: The Guild War and Arrival

_**AN: Not much to say here….early update! Yay! And apology for the last late one! Hope you enjoy it!**_

_**Thank you to Flightstar, who let me use Mizuki! I hope I wrote her correctly! Also the few of you that reviewed in the short amount of time the last chapter was up, thank you!**_

_**WARNING- OOCness, violence, sudden character arrivals, swearing, randomness, made-up magic, horrible fight scenes, and other fun stuff. c:**_

_**ON WITH THE CHAPTER~**_

* * *

_Chapter Five: The Guild War and the Arrival_

"So you're saying that boy Ichigo just took down a thug by himself no problem, without using any magic?" Makarov asked. He was sitting on the bar of Fairy Tail, his beer mug forgotten beside him. Mirajane stood behind him, cleaning glasses and listening carefully to Lucy's story.

"Yeah." Lucy said, nodding her head. She was seated at the bar, a glass of water in her hand. She took a sip, glancing up at Makarov nervously.

"Well, while that's not necessarily a rare occurrence – many people who can't use magic can fight fairly well – the fact that he's a teenage magic user with that much ease in a fist-fight…" Makarov trailed off, a look of deep thought on his face.

"Master, you're not going to lock yourself in your office researching again, are you?" Mira asked worriedly. Makarov waved his hand distractedly at her.

"No, I've already found all I could possibly find on Hollow Moon … which is absolutely nothing of course. Looking through everything again won't help." Makarov muttered.

Lucy sighed. She had gotten fairly interested in the mystery of Hollow Moon, and was just as disappointed as Makarov that his efforts had been fruitless. "If only we could just go and ask around their hometown. It would be so much easier…" Lucy grumbled.

"…We could do that, actually." Makarov said, thinking. Mira frowned a little bit, setting down the glass she was drying.

"Master, why are you going through so much trouble just for one small guild?" She asked. Makarov looked back at her.

"Well, something's off about that guild. I don't know what it is, but I want to know what we are dealing with here. I want to know if I can trust them, if I can help them, and what they're all about." Makarov glanced around the guild, then continued. "I don't want a dark guild to exist anywhere near us, where it could bring harm to Fairy Tail or the townspeople."

"But still, couldn't you just report them to the Magic Council?" Mira asked.

"The Magic Council is the ones that set them up, if what Ichigo said was true. Reporting to them would be useless." Makarov explained.

"Well if the Magic Council already knows about them that just proves they're not a dark guild. Surely they would put a stop to it if they did?" Mira argued.

"Mira, you and I already know the Council has made some unwise decisions before." Makarov pointed out calmly. He stood from his spot on the counter and did his usual flip off it. "I will go and prepare myself for the trip to Karakura. Tell the others where I went after I've left Lucy."

"Yes master." Makarov then left Mira and Lucy to themselves. Lucy glanced at Mira with a smile. "It'll be okay, Mira. You have to believe in the Master."

"I know, but…" Mira trailed off in her protest. She looked over at the request board to see someone hurrying to post something on it. "Lucy, why don't you go on a mission with your team when they get back?" Mira asked suddenly.

"I _do _need more money in order to pay this month's rent…but if I go with Erza, Gray, Natsu and Happy they'll destroy everything and the reward will have to be used for repairs." An air of gloom seemed to settle over Lucy as she looked at the floor.

"Well then you could go by yourself!" Mira suggested. Lucy seemed to think this over.

"Yeah! I can be independent! I can do stuff without Natsu, Gray or Erza's help!" Lucy fist-pumped then stood with a determined look on her face. She approached the request board and looked it over, spotting the request the stranger from earlier had posted.

_Please come and calm down the guild Hollow Moon. They are making a ruckus and I can't focus on writing my novel. Reward is 10,000 Jewels! Contact Mizuki Tagasaki on Kaisen Rd._

Lucy grinned. "Well that'll be simple enough. Pays good money too. How hard can it be?" She ripped the request down and marched out of the guild.

How wrong she was.

* * *

"Alright. This should be the place I'm supposed to meet the client at, if what that store clerk's direction were correct…." Lucy knocked hesitantly on the door of the house. True to the clients words, she could here crashing, booming, and other loud noises coming from a few streets away.

The door opened slowly, and a woman appeared behind it. Lucy backed up in fright at the glare the woman had on her face.

"Are you here for my request?" The woman gritted out. Lucy paled and held out the paper with shaking hands.

"Y-yes! I'm Lucy from Fairy Tail." The woman's glare disappeared and was replaced by a look of relief.

"Thank god! I thought I was going to have to go burn down the guild myself!" She said gleefully.

"Wait…what?"

"Oh don't worry about it! Now that you're here to take care of it, I can finally work on my book." The woman grinned. "Careful though. I've been feeling tremors and shockwaves from the guild since a while ago."

_Maybe I should have waited for Natsu, Gray, Erza and Happy afterall…_ "Hahaha…thanks for the warning…"

"Well, good luck! Tell that dumb kid Ichigo I said hello!" Mizuki said then slammed the door closed. Lucy sweat dropped, then headed to the guild Hollow Moon. She could, as Mizuki had said, feel the ground shaking slightly, as well as hear the booms and crashes coming with it.

She picked up her pace, and soon enough she was standing in front of what used to be a nice building. The shingles were now gone, bits of the roof had crumbled, the walls had chunks missing, the windows were shattered, the doors laid splintered off to the side…the place was a mess.

Inside Lucy could spot figures rushing about, yelling and dodging attacks. There was a harsh wind sweeping the grounds, coming from the openings of the guild. Lucy had the thought to just return back to the guild and forget this request, but both her curiosity and pride wouldn't let her. So she got her keys ready and marched onward, into the guild.

* * *

The fight's balance had been tipped the moment Ichigo appeared.

But then he saw the broken picture of him and Nel lying on the floor, and all hell broke loose.

Ichigo hadn't wasted time going and getting Zangetsu, which was the instrument he used to channel his large amount of magic to make his attacks more effective. He simply started to prepare himself to use _Solid Magic_, which allowed him to solidify and shoot off his magic as razor-sharp arcs using the command "Getsuga Tensho".

Ulquiorra, who was apparently so into the fight he forgot his calm and collected personality, used his _Shift Magic_ almost immediately. His uniform changed, becoming a long white coat that went to his feet, and the sleeves became glove-like in that it not only covered the entire arm, but the hands and fingers as well.

Nnoitra sprouted two more arms and materialized scythe-like weapons for each hand to use with his _Limb Magic_.

Baraggan ordered his men to back down and retreat to the other side of the guild, deciding the fight was no longer worth it. Nelliel hid behind them on Ichigo orders, watching worriedly.

Starrk dragged Lilynette to the other side of the guild into safety since Ichigo could now take care of it. And then the ridiculously flashy battle commenced.

Ichigo was firing off one weak Getsuga Tensho after another, taking long strides towards Ulquiorra and Nnoitra which each one. Ulquiorra was deflecting each of the arcs with his hand, causing them to destroy the guild around them. Nnoitra was deflecting as well with two hands, slashing at Ichigo and Ulquiorra with the other two.

The guild was in shambles and most of the members were cowering beneath what was left of the tables. That was when they noticed an unfamiliar presence standing in the doorway. It was a blonde girl, holding keys, looking extremely shocked.

Ichigo's distraction got his arm slashed by Nnoitra, who then got stabbed in the gut by Ulquiorra's javelin, which he had created by using the very same _Solid Magic_ that Ichigo did. Nnoitra dropped to his knees, gritting his teeth at the pain.

Ichigo returned back to the fight and lunged forward, slashing his arm down across Ulquiorra's chest and letting loose a Getsuga Tensho, while Nnoitra attempted to stand. Ulquiorra dropped to his knees as well.

Before anyone could do anything about it, Ichigo grabbed both their heads and hit them together, knocking the two out. As they hit the ground, Ichigo raised his hands high in a victory pose. There were a few claps and cheers from where the rest of the guild was.

He then dropped his arms and turned to the newcomer. He squinted to see who it was in the bright afternoon light. His eyes widened at the discovery of who it was.

"L-Lucy?" He asked then gave himself a mental high-five for remembering her name. The girl looked around the guild in a both shocked and curious manner.

"Uh…hi, Ichigo!" Lucy greeted shakily.

"Why're you here?" Ichigo asked, leaving the pile of unconscious bodies behind to stand next to her. She glanced down at her keys, then to a piece of paper clutched in her hand, then back to Ichigo.

"Well, I was requested by a nearby woman to come calm down this guild because of the ruckus being made, but…" She trailed off and looked pointedly at the pile of people in the center of the guild.

"Hahaha, yeah, we did get a bit out of hand. Let me guess, it was Mizuki who asked you?" Ichigo asked, crossing his arms.

"Uh, yeah. She said to tell 'that dumb kid Ichigo hello'." Ichigo's eye twitched and he scowled.

"That old woman…who's the dumb one paying somebody to do a job you could easily do their self?" He muttered. "Sorry for the trouble Lucy. It's just some _idiots_ – " Ichigo glared back at the group of people starting to come out from beneath tables and chairs. "Couldn't keep  
Grimm and Nnoi from fighting."

"Who?"

"Ah, the blue haired guy face-down over there, and the four-armed dude over there." Ichigo clarified.

"You try stopping a fight between the Sexta and the Quinto Espada! They're fucking scary when their mad!" Someone yelled.

"I did! More times than I can count!" Ichigo yelled back. Suddenly a green-haired woman came running up, tackling Ichigo in a tight hug and smothering him in her chest.

"Ichigo! Thank goodness you're alright!" She squealed. A muffled reply came from Ichigo, along with some flailing of arms. The woman seemed to noticed then gash on Ichigo's arm and let him go, instead grabbing it to examine the damage.

Ichigo rolled his eyes, then glanced up at Lucy who was staring at them. "Lucy, meet Nelliel. Nel, this is Lucy." Ichigo introduced, and Lucy bowed politely while Nel gave a nod of acknowledgement. She set Ichigo's arm down.

"Hello Lucy, pleased to meet you!" Nel smiled, then turned back to Ichigo. "Ichigo, is it safe now?" She asked. Ichigo gave a soft smile that made Lucy blush.

"Yeah, it's safe now." Ichigo told her, smile still in place. The woman grinned, then with a poof, she disappeared, a small child with short green hair in her place.

"Itsygo! Nel's gonna fix you wight up!" The child cheered. Ichigo paled.

"Uh, no, that's okay Nel! No need for it! This'll heal right up all by itself!" He said hastily.

"What are you talking about? That wound looks deep! You should have her heal it if she can!" Lucy said, taking a seat next to Ichigo in the floor.

"Well, it's the way she heals wounds that's the problem…" Ichigo started.

"Itsygo..." Nel started with tears starting to well up in her eyes, "Itsygo just wants to look cool in fwont of dis guwl, wight?" She said.

"What? No!" Ichigo denied, with a frown.

"Den why won't Itsygo let Nel help him?!" The girl cried, tears streaming down her face. Ichigo was about to reply when a shadow passed over them.

"Still making girls cry, big brother?" A warbled voice asked. Ichigo head whipped to the side to stare at the person, shock apparent on his face. He lifted the crying Nel off his stomach and handed her to Lucy. He then slowly stood up, facing the person eye-to-eye, his expression guarded. Ichigo examined him, as if in disbelief of the identity of the person. When he seemed satisfied, the guarded expression changed to pure and utter joy and a huge grin spread across his face.

Ichigo embraced the person tightly, and when he did their face came into view for everyone else.

Golden irises floating in inky black sclera, manic grin, and all color absent from his hair and skin. But he looked identical to Ichigo, from the spikes in their hair to the shape of their nose. Some in the guild recognized him, and gasps and murmurs were let out.

"Shiro…I missed you."

* * *

_**AN: Well here it is! The next chapter! Incredibly short, I know. But it seemed like such a good place to end it~**_

_**NEL'S LISP IS THE HARDEST THING I'VE HAD TO WRITE IN MY LIFE. I'm sorry if it's a failure. **__**Also. Fight scenes. Not my thing. Can't write them at all. I'm sorry. I really am. I'm working on it though. **_

_**Review, favorite, follow, and all that other fun stuff. Also point out and errors or mistakes you find. I'll try to fix them. Also p**__**airings, friendships, enemies, plot ideas, and suggestions are welcome!**_

_**Until next time~ Ciao!**_

_**~ Luci-chan**_


	6. Chapter Six: The Answers

_**AN: Hello Everyone! Coming at you with the 6**__**th**__** chapter of The New Guild in Town! This one's going to have quite a few explanations, so get your notebooks out and pencils ready!**_

_**YAY! Shirosaki is here! Hehehe he's one of my favorite characters in Bleach, so of course I had to put him in. Then he became an important to the plot, and a bunch of stuff happened…yeah.**_

_**Also, in case you get confused while reading, at the bottom I'll put a recap section that'll sum up everything that happened. And since how I wrote Nel's lisp might be hard to understand, I'll put a translation of what she said after in |these thingies|.**_

_**Warning –Swearing, black mail, slight Magic Council bashing, OOCness, and other fun stuff. c:**_

_**ON WITH THE CHAPTER~**_

* * *

Chapter Six: The Answers

* * *

**Last time…**

_Ichigo embraced the person tightly, and when he did their face came into view for everyone else. _

_Golden irises floating in inky black sclera, manic grin, and all color absent from his hair and skin. But he looked identical to Ichigo, from the spikes in their hair to the shape of their nose. Some in the guild recognized him, and gasps and murmurs were let out. _

"_Shiro…I missed you."_

* * *

Lucy stared at the person Ichigo was hugging, eyes wide. _Who is that?_ She wondered. Ichigo and the stranger 'Shiro' pulled apart, grins still in place.

"I missed you too Ichi. It's why I pulled my trump cards to hurry the process along." The stranger said, grin becoming wider. Ichigo's eyes widened.

"No way…for real? Where'd you get dirt on them from? Urahara?" Ichigo asked. The stranger shook his head.

"Nah, his info is too expensive. I got it myself." The stranger said, and Ichigo laughed.

_What? Info? On who? What process? What are they talking about? _Lucy thought frantically, trying to absorb as much info as possible so she could relay it to Master. The little girl in her arms wasn't helping though, she kept crying, and snot was starting to come out of her nose. _Gross!_

"Um, it's okay Nel. You don't have to cry…" Lucy tried, awkwardly patting the girl on the back. She rocked her a bit in her arms, and it seemed to work in calming her down since the girl's sobs turned into sniffles and hiccups.

"B-but Tsiwo's back!_| B-but Shiro's back!|_" Nel said when she had calmed down enough to be understood. "Itsygo's been so wuwied ovah him, and wuking evuwy night to help Tsiwo get away fwum dose big baddies…and now Tsiwo's back! _|Ichigo's been so worried over him, and working every night to help Shiro get away from those big baddies…and now Shiro's back!|_" She explained, then started to squirm out of Lucy's arms and run to the two guys.

They were currently talking about something to do with someone named Zangetsu sending their well-wishes. They paused in their conversation when Nel yanked on the albino-like one - Shiro – 's pant leg. He glanced down at her, and frowned.

"Well if it isn't the infamous Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck." He said, bending down to scoop her up. But just as he was about to, there was a POOF! and a cloud of smoke, leaving the green-haired woman from before.

"Shirosaki. It's been a while." Nel said. She stood up and looked at Ichigo. "I thought his case was already decided."

"Well it was, until I told those idiots on the Council what exactly I've picked up from drifting place to place. They _had_ to let me go after that. You should have seen the looks on their faces." Shiro cackled gleefully.

_What? The Council? As in the Magic Council? And what case? What's going on here?_ Lucy thought frantically, staring at the new mystery man.

He seemed to notice her stare, and looked down at her.

"Ehh? Ichi, when did this one join the guild?" Shiro asked, crouching down at eye-level with Lucy.

"She's not part of this guild." Ichigo answered, crossing his arms and scowling.

"Good. She's too weak and innocent to be sucked into Los Noches' darkness." Shiro replied, reaching out and cupping Lucy's chin. He turned her head left and right, examining her. "I bet even Loly and Menoly could take her." He said, turning his head to look at Ichigo. But what he saw made him frown.

"Shiro…she doesn't know about it." Ichigo muttered, trying to look casual.

"Aw, that's no fun. You know I'm no good at lying…" Shiro replied, a grin stretching across his face.

"Shirosaki, you're better at lying than Gin." Nel said, walking up and grabbing his arm. She pulled his hand away from Lucy, releasing her.

"I'm hurt, Nelliel. I don't have shit on that sneaky bastard. Remember, he's the one of the one's that started the war in the first place." Shiro said, pulling his hand from Nel's grip.

"Shiro! Shut up!" Ichigo hissed, smacking Shiro in the back of the head.

"Fine." Shiro muttered, rubbing his head. "No need to use violence!"

"Violence is the only thing that can get through that thick skull of yours." Ichigo shot back.

"…" Shiro couldn't argue with that.

Lucy, seeing that there was finally an opening to speak, stood up and brushed herself off. She then began to introduce herself. "Um, hello." Lucy said, holding out her hand towards Shiro. He turned to her and glanced at her hand, an eyebrow raised. It became clear after a few seconds he wasn't planning on taking it. Lucy dropped her hand and continued. "I'm Lucy Heartfilia of Fairy Tail. May I ask who you are, exactly?"

"Eh? What's it to you?" Shiro asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Oh…um, well, I just – " Lucy began, but Shiro quickly cut her off.

"I'm just messin' with you. My name's Jirou Kurosaki. Call me Shirosaki though." He said, grinning.

"Yeah, he's really touchy about his first name. Beat the snot out of somebody once because they called him by his first name instead of Shirosaki." Ichigo said, and Shiro glared at him.

"Who's touchy about their first name, huh? 'Strawberry'!"

"Why you little – my name doesn't mean strawberry, damn it!" Ichigo yelled, grabbing Shiro and putting him in a headlock, "And you know it, 'fourth son'!"

"Well my name doesn't mean 'fourth son' either! It means 'white', dipshit!" Shiro choked out.

"Who're you calling a dipshit, dumbass?" Ichigo asked, giving Shiro a noogie.

"Geez guys, cut it out will you?" Someone said, coming up behind Lucy. She jumped and spun around, facing a man with wavy brown hair and a short goatee. He had girl next to him, with light green hair and one pink eye. The other was covered with a white eye patch with red designs on it.

"Shut up!" The two boys yelled, Ichigo now pinching Shiro's cheeks while the Shiro pulled Ichigo's hair.

The girl seemed to want to punch both of them for that, but the guy held her shoulder. "Let it go Lilynette. We need to go take care of those guys." The male tilted his head in indication of the pile of bodies.

"Fine. But I'll get them back later." The girl, Lilynette said. She marched over to the unconscious people, then started slapping them, tickling them, and shoving her fingers down their throats.

_What is that little girl doing?_ Lucy wondered. Her question was answered when the people started waking up, either angry, out of breath and laughing, or puking._ Oh. She was waking them up. But what about those wounds?_

"Nel! We need some of your magic healing spit puke over here!" The Lilynette yelled. She then rounded on the guy standing off to the side. "And Starrk! Make yourself useful! Poor some whiskey for them! They're gonna need it for the pain." Starrk nodded and headed off to the bar.

Nel sat down next to the first 'patient', and stuck her hand in her mouth. Out came a clear, mucus-like liquid. When it covered the person's wound, it started healing.

_Ichigo was right. That is disgusting._ Lucy thought. But that reminded her, _What about Ichigo's wound?_ She turned back to the bickering pair.

"Ichigo, what about your gash on your arm?" Lucy asked, making them pause.

"Oh yeah...Shiro, fix it for me. I don't wanna undergo Nel's 'healing'."

"Why should I, dumbass?" Shiro asked.

"Because I'm your big brother and I said so. Or do you want me to write Dad and tell him where you live?" Ichigo asked.

"You wouldn't dare." Shiro's voice was filled with dread.

"Ohhh, but I _would_." Ichigo replied, grinning evilly.

"Give me your damn arm." Shiro growled, holding out his hand. Ichigo obliged, and Lucy watched carefully, eager to see what he would do. Shiro muttered something, and a small white magic circle appeared over the wound, then disappeared. A white liquid began to bubble over the wound, then solidified, leaving a bone-like substance covering the wound completely. Shiro raised his hand, then brought his fist down on it, shattering the material. The wound was completely gone, with no trace of it being there.

"Wow…" Lucy muttered, and Shiro grinned.

"Pretty cool, isn't it? Called _Instant Regeneration Magic_. Very few can use it. Well, almost everyone in this guild can, but not many others." Shiro said as Ichigo flexed his arm.

"Thanks Shiro." Ichigo muttered.

"Can you do use that magic too, Ichigo?" Lucy asked. He shook his head.

"Nah. It's a magic that only certain people are compatible with. I wasn't. He was. Won't let me hear the end of it either." Ichigo said, shooting a pointed look at Shiro.

"Hey, you're the one that got a cool sword from Yoruichi. What did I get? I damn mask. So excuse me for bragging about one of the few things I one-upped you on."

"We didn't get those until we were ten, Shi. And you got a sword too a couple days later. What about the other ten years of bragging?" Ichigo asked.

"Details, details. Who needs them?" Shiro said, waving his hand as if to shoo the thought of them away. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go say hi to Grimmy-dearest." And with that he walked off to the group of people laying on remains of tables and recovering.

"…It's getting late. You should probably go and collect your reward before Mizuki falls asleep. She goes to bed early and gets out of bed early." Ichigo explained to Lucy.

"Ah…but I don't think I really deserve it. I mean, I didn't really do anything except stand there." Lucy pointed out.

"No, because you were here I hurried it up and knocked those two out, instead of letting them continue to fight. No need to embarrass ourselves in front of another guild." Ichigo said, giving a smile to Lucy.

"Oh…Well, I guess…" Lucy trailed off, looking around the guild one last time. "I'll be off then. Feel free to drop by Fairy Tail anytime, Ichigo. Our doors are always open for friends." Lucy said, then left, disappearing in the darkness outside.

* * *

Ichigo let out a sigh of relief. Now that Lucy was gone, he could actually talk to his brother about how he got out. He hurried over to where Shiro was bothering Grimmjow.

"All I'm saying is really need to get over your obsession with cats." Shiro said.

"I'll get over my obsession with cats as soon as you get over your obsession of Ichigo." Grimmjow shot back.

"I don't have an obsession over Ichigo!" Shiro exclaimed.

"Please. I saw the shrine and memory albums." Grimmjow replied, smirking.

"What shrine and memory albums?" Ichigo asked, coming up behind Shiro and resting an arm on his shoulder.

"Nothing! Grimmy's just joking around, _right_?" Shiro emphasized the last part. Grimm rolled his eyes, but agreed all the same.

"Yeah."

"Mhm. Right. Totally believe you." Ichigo said, raising an eyebrow. "But I have more important things to talk about than you stalking me since we were seven." Ichigo said, and Shiro sputtered.

"What- I didn't- "

"How did you convince the Council to free you?" Ichigo asked, interrupting whatever Shiro was about to say.

"I already told you big bro, I got some juicy tid-bits on a few of the members, and as soon as they realized that they let me go." Shiro explained, leaning forward onto the table.

"Why didn't they just execute you? They had plenty of excuses to." Grimmjow pointed out, laying back down on the table.

"Heh. As if I'm that stupid. I made sure if they killed me all of their dirty little secrets would spread throughout this country by the end of the day. Shinji's network works fast, you know?" Shiro explained, and Grimmjow laughed.

"How hell did you manage to find Shinji and his gang?" Ichigo asked, staring at his brother in surprise.

"You know that one perverted magazine Lisa has a subscription for? I just broke in there, found her address, nagged her for a week, and she finally showed me their hideout. Shinji wasn't too happy to see me – reminds him of his brother. Well, I remind everyone in that group of their siblings, really." Shiro said, and the mood suddenly turned dark.

"Yeah…" Ichigo muttered, looking at his twin brother sadly. "They've never really liked us much, have they?"

"Their problems are theirs, not yours, Ichi. You didn't ask to be part of Aizen's plans. You didn't kill their siblings off. It's not your cross to carry, it's Aizen's. God knows you're already carrying too many." Shiro placed a hand on Ichigo's shoulder, frowning.

"I know, but…" Ichigo trailed off, unsure how to continue.

"Ne, Ichi-chan~! That depressed look doesn't suit you." Gin said, making everyone jump. Ichigo glared up at him, and Gin's smile turned into a frown.

"What do you want Gin? I'm not in the mood to deal with your shit." Ichigo growled, and Gin held up his hands in an 'I surrender' pose, his grin returning.

"Just wondering why you look so glum, is all. And to greet Shi-chan too." Gin explained.

"Why so glum? Oh, you know, just remembering some the twisted shit Aizen did to innocent people. Lives he ruined. Lives he took. Lies he told. His experiments with dark magic. How he deemed the Vizard generation 'failures' and killed one of each twin. How we were considered a 'success' and were spared," Ichigo explained, getting angrier and angrier as he spoke. Before he could continue, he was stopped by a hug from Shiro.

"He's gone now, Ichigo. Locked away in the deepest and darkest parts of prison, never to see a ray of light again for the rest of his immortal life. He can't torment us, the Vizards, Los Noches, the Soul Society, Yuzu, Karin, or Dad anymore. You've done your duty of protecting everyone." Shiro said softly.

"And yet there's still more people to protect." Ichigo replied, sighing tiredly. "There's lives to rebuild, hopes to restore, dreams to be fulfilled. People to lead, people help, people to save. There's no end to it." Ichigo dropped his head, his shoulders sagging. "I'm only fifteen, you know?"

"So?" Grimmjow interrupted suddenly. He sat up looked at Ichigo "You are the most meddlesome fifteen year old I've ever met, right next to your brother. You could've sat it out, waited on the sidelines and watched the fight. No one would've blamed you if you did. But you didn't. You and Shiro picked up your swords, powered up, and jumped in. So go whine to somebody else about how hard your life is." Grimmjow hopped off the table, and stalked off upstairs, most likely to take a cat nap.

"He's got a point Ichi-chan." Gin said, and turned to leave.

"Bye…" Ichigo muttered.

"Alright Ichigo, I'm tired. I had to run all over Fiore looking for you. Let's go take a bath then sleep. We can worry about the world tomorrow." Shiro said, stretching.

"Why didn't you just ask the Council where I was?" Ichigo asked, standing up.

"You try talking to a bunch of people you just blackmailed into releasing you from jail." Shiro muttered, walking off.

"Shi, the bath's in the other direction." Ichigo said, smirking.

"I knew that. Just checking to make sure you did." Shiro said, turning around and following after Ichigo.

"Right." Ichigo laughed.

* * *

"Eh?! He's already gone?!" Lucy exclaimed, slamming her hands on the bar. Mirajane nodded.

"Yes, you just missed him. He told me he'll be back in about three days or so."

Lucy sighed, plopping down onto a chair. "And I had some really important info for him too…" Lucy grumbled.

"Really? Like what?" Mira asked curiously.

"Like that Ichigo has an albino brother named Jirou Kurosaki, only he likes to be called Shirosaki instead." Lucy said, and Mira dropped the glass she was drying.

"What?" Mira asked urgently, startling Lucy.

"What's wrong?" Lucy stood up and walked around the bar, then bent down to help Mira pick up the glass.

"It's just…Shirosaki…that's the name of one of the most famous guild-hoppers in Fiore."

"Guild-hopper?"

"A mage that has no allegiance to any guild, but instead goes from guild to guild snatching requests off boards." Mirajane explained, sweeping the last bit of glass up. "Shirosaki has come here too, but Master almost always stops him before he can grab a request. One time though, he managed to snatch a high-paying S-Class request, and completed it easily, despite being only thirteen." Mira dumped the glass in a trashcan, then put away the broom and dustpan. She turned to Lucy. "He came back covered in blood, grinning madly, and forced ¼ of the reward onto Master. And now that I think about it, there _was_ another boy with him, waiting at the door. He had bright orange hair, and kept saying something about, 'Tensa's going to be pissed at us if we're late!' or something like that. Only reason I remembered it was because the kid threw the money hard as he could at Master when he wouldn't accept it, then ran away." Mirajane picked up another dish she had washed and began drying it.

"Thirteen? What kind of monster can take on S-Class missions at thirteen?" Lucy exclaimed, and Mira shrugged.

"Well Shiro was also saying something about Los Noches, and how I was too weak and innocent to be sucked into its darkness. And he had gotten dirt on someone, which hurried a process along. Then he had a case that was already decided, but a Council had to let him go after he told them what he had picked up drifting form place to place. Also he said something about a person named Gin being one of the ones that started a war. He had tried to say more, but Ichigo kept telling him to shut up because I didn't know anything."

"Hm. Master'll want to hear all this when he gets back. I'm sure he'll know something about this war he was talking about." Mira concluded, and Lucy nodded in acceptance. "But in the meantime you should go home and get some sleep. I'm sure the boys and Erza have already broken into your apartment by now."

Lucy sighed, a cloud of gloom hanging over her. "Yeah, you're probably right." Lucy muttered, then stood up and grabbed her bag, heading for the door. "Bye Mirajane!" Lucy yelled, then left.

"Be safe…I have a bad feeling about all this…" Mirajane murmured softly, then went back to cleaning up.

* * *

"_DING! We have arrived at Southern Cross Station. Next stop: Karakura Town Station. DING!"_ The electronic voice spoke over the intercom.

Makarov sighed, settling into his seat more. He had been on this train for a few hours now, and it was getting dark outside. The next stop he would finally be able to get off, and maybe find some answers.

So far he had decided he would go to the hotel first, sleep, and in the morning he would head to the Soul Society and ask them if they knew anything. If they didn't, he'd ask around and see if the locals knew anything. Then he'd head back to the hotel, sleep, and the next morning head back to Fairy Tail.

He really was hoping he'd learn something, especially since the tickets to Karakura and back had been around 1000 jewels.

When the train dinged and announced its arrival at Karakura Town Station, Makarov leaped out of his chair and hurriedly gathered his belongings, eager to walk and breathe fresh air again.

He checked in the hotel, found his room, and collapsed on the bed.

_Right. Big day tomorrow. Better get some sle…_

He was snoring before he even finished his thought.

* * *

_**AN: YAY! I finished it! And it's being delivered ahead of schedule too! (I've decided the official release day is going to be every Tuesday for the duration of Summer) Give me a reward by reviewing!**_

_**Hehehe, lots of stuff was revealed in this chapter, but I hope it still left some questions unanswered.**_

_**The jokes about their names: Ichigo can also be read as 'Strawberry'. Shiro can also be read as 'Fourth Son'. I had to dig for that tidbit. **_

_**RECAP:**_

_**Shirosaki's real name is Jirou Kurosaki. Jirou means 'Second Son'. Shiro disliked it and changed it to Shirosaki, since he was colored white, and his last name was Kurosaki. Plus it sounded good.**_

_**Shirosaki got some blackmail material on some of the Magic Council members, gave the info to Shinji and his gang, and threatened his way out of prison with it. **_

_**The Vizards were a result of Aizen's experiments, where he used dark magic in order to create twins like Ichigo and Shiroskai. However Shinji's generation (the other Vizards and himself) had their twins killed off because they were not compatible with the magic of 'Instant Regeneration Magic', and were considered 'failures'. Because Shirosaki was able to use the magic, he was considered a 'success' and was spared. Thus Shinji and the other Vizards hold an amount of resentment towards Ichigo and Shiro for being the ones that got to survive.**_

_**Ichigo got the sword he named Zangetsu from Yoruichi as a birthday present, while Shirosaki got the horned hollow mask from her as his birthday present. Later on he got a sword identical to Ichigo's due to constant whining over it. They were ten.**_

_**There was a war going on between (you guessed it) Soul Society and Los Noches. **_

_**Aizen achieved immortality through dark magic, and was thus sentenced to life in the deepest and darkest parts of prison.**_

…_**I think that's about it. Let me know if you're still confused about what what's going on or what happened. I'm not the best at explaining things…**_

_**So, yeah. REVIEW! FAVORITE! FOLLOW! **_

_**Until Next time~ Ciao!**_

_**~ Luci-chan**_


	7. Chapter Seven: The Soul Society

_**AN: Hello~ Its Luci Fergess with the 7**__**th**__** chapter of The New Guild in Town! Sorry about last Tuesday, but with the whole three chapters in one week, I couldn't really force myself to write out another one in such a small amount of time. As for this Tuesday, I finished it, and I was about to post it- and my dad cut off my fucking internet. -_- So I posted it today. **_

_**Hope everyone's not too mad about it…**_

_**So this is going to be the brief debut of the guild you've all been waiting for, the Soul Society! Yay! Plus the human gang will also be debuting. ^-^**_

_**On with the chapter~**_

**Knglnvnjfnbjnbnflknbl**

_The New Guild in Town_

Chapter Seven: The Soul Society

**Jkghnjhjhmhjkhjmjhm**

The next morning, Makarov woke feeling nervous. He might finally be getting some answers today.

He got dressed in a hurry, scarfed down his breakfast of eggs and bacon then headed outside, a map of Karakura Town in hand.

"Alright, if the hotel's right here, and the guild is right there…that means I should take this route here…" Makarov muttered to himself, tracing the map with his finger. Satisfied, he rolled the map up and continued on until he reached the enormous guild.

It was a cluster of buildings with white walls and orange roofs, surrounded by a giant circular white wall. It was so large and spacious it could have been considered a town by itself. He took a few seconds to marvel at the structures, but quickly gathered himself.

Makarov walked up the path leading to the first building, and pushed open the doors with some effort. Inside were people laughing, talking, eating and drinking.

He stopped at the first person he saw, which was a girl with raven black hair and large violet eyes, and cleared his throat.

"Yes sir? How may I help you?" The girl asked, looking down at him from her seat at the table.

"Well I was wondering if I could ask you about a person named Ichigo Kurosaki." Makarov said, smiling politely at the girl. All nearby conversation paused, and quite a few people turned to stare at him. The girl frowned at him, and elbowed the guy sitting next to her, who had bright red hair and large tattoos on his forehead.

"Renji, he wants to know about Ichigo." The girl said, and he leaned back to stare at Makarov. He looked him up and down, sizing him up, then frowned.

"Send him to the Captain-Commander. We're not allowed to tell him anything." Renji muttered returning back to his food, many others doing the same. The girl looked back to Makarov and pointed her finger towards the far end of the room, where an old man was sitting talking with a few other people quietly.

"Ask the Captain-Commander. We've been ordered not to speak of him." The girl said, looking away. Makarov nodded.

"Thank you for your help." Makarov hurried over to where the old man was sitting with some others, and stopped. He looked around the people, and noticed they were all staring at him. "Excuse me, I've been directed to the Captain-Commander for some questions I wanted to ask." Makarov bowed respectfully, then stood straight.

"That would be me." The old man said waving his hand, which made the people around him stand and leave. "What do you want to know?"

"Could you tell me about a person named Ichigo Kurosaki?" Makarov asked, and the old man's eyes opened and stared at him with hard eyes.

"We are proud to say he was once a member of this guild. I'm afraid that's all I can tell you since information on him and what he was involved in is confidential. Is that all?"

"Well…yes." Makarov said bowing once again. Something about this man just seemed to command respect.

"Then please leave." The old man said, gesturing to the door. Makarov nodded and left in a hurry, not wanting to stir up any trouble. Little did he know there was a certain group of teenagers watching him…

**Bnkmbn,kn,,n,hjkghkjgkhj**

"Did you hear him? He was asking about Ichigo!" Orihime said exclaimed, pointing at the door the small old man had left through.

"Yeah, I heard him. I wonder why?" Uryu watched as Orihime proceeded to stuff her face with bread and honey.

"Maybe he's from the town Ichigo moved to," Sado suggested, watching Orihime as well.

Uryu nodded, thinking. "Kurosaki probably made him suspicious by doing or saying something, and he came to find out what was going on."

"Maybe we should tell him." Said Sado and he glanced at Uryu.

"Yeah! I mean, what if he starts asking the wrong people the right questions, and he thinks Ichigo is a bad guy? Then something might happen!" Orihime said worriedly.

"She has a point…" Uryu muttered. "Alright, we'll tell him what we know. The Soul Society may have sworn secrecy, but I didn't. Plus we might get some info on Kurosaki as well." Uryu glanced at Sado. "Do you have a plan? We can't just tell him anywhere. It's a long story that not many people should know."

Sado nodded. "Orihime, go find him and bring him to your place. We'll meet you there, and tell him inside." Sado instructed. _He sure is being talkative…_ Uryu thought briefly before Orihime fist-pumped.

"Gotcha!" She exclaimed.

So they set out to put the very simple plan into action.

**Jdfgfnfjngjnghnjdret**

Makarov was minding his own business (not really) when a girl suddenly tapped him on the shoulder.

"Um, excuse me Mister, but could you come with me? My friends and I want to talk to you." The girl said, smiling.

_Is she like, a mobster or something? Am I going to get robbed in a dark alley? _Makarov thought briefly before mentally smacking himself. The girl looked harmless. The most she could do is smother him with her huge chest.

"About what?" But he would rather be safe than sorry. The girl looked nervous, and glanced around.

"Well, you know how you were asking about a certain someone? Well he was a close friend of ours so…we'd like to answer your questions." The girl quietly whispered.

Makarov grinned. "Lead the way then!" He wasn't about to turn down some answers to the mystery that had been depriving him of sleep for the past few days.

"Right-e-o! I'm Orihime Inoue, by the way. What about you?" Orihime chirped cheerfully.

"Makarov Dreyar, master of Fairy Tail. Nice to meet you." Makarov greeted.

"Oooh! A guild master? You're just like Ichigo then!" Orihime replied excitedly.

"Yup."

"Y'know, Ichigo's family was so proud of him when he was made the master of a guild. Or course they were sad too that he was going so far away." Orihime told Makarov seriously.

"Well I would imagine so, especially at the age of fifteen." Makarov pointed out.

"And then Ichigo's little brother left too, and poor Yuzu's been writing Ichigo every day because she was so worried. The older twins tend to get into a lot of trouble when left to their own devices." Orihime chuckled nervously.

"Twins?" Makarov inquired, looking at Orihime curiously. _I didn't hear anything about twins…_

"Oh yeah! Ichigo has a twin brother. His name's Jirou, but he hates that name so most people call him Shirosaki." Orihime explained. "Ichigo calls him Shiro most of the time though, and sometimes Shi when he's playing around with him. Then their little sisters Yuzu and Karin are twins too!"

Something familiar tickled at the back of Makarov's mind. _Where have I heard the name Shirosaki before?_ He thought hard, trying to remember. Then the memory came to him.

"_Hey Shirosaki, get down from there! Only S-Class members are allowed up there!" Makarov shouted. The boy looked back down at him from the railing, sticking out his tongue. _

"_Shut it old man. I need some money for food!" The boy shouted and disappeared upstairs. _

"_Hey!" Makarov ran to stop him._

"_Too slow! Hey Ichi, I got us a big one!" Shirosaki shouted, throwing himself off the railing just as Makarov reached the top stair. He landed on his feet and dashed to the doors where his companion, another boy with bright orange hair stood. _

"_Shi! You were supposed to grab the smallest reward!" The orange headed boy shouted, hitting the albino one upside the head. _

"_Aw, but I didn't have enough time to go through all of them!" Shirosaki whined._

"_Get back here, brats! You're not going to get away! Natsu, after them!" Makarov shouted, and Natsu saluted. _

"_Yes sir!" Natsu shouted and ran towards the two boys. _

"_Oh, screw it. C'mon let's go Shiro!" The orange headed boy shouted, grabbing Shirosaki. _

"_Sonido on three!" Shirosaki yelled. "One, Two – " They disappeared with a low buzz, just as Natsu reached where they had been standing. _

"_Damn it! What kind of magic was that?!" Natsu roared, glaring at the spot the pair had been. _

"_Let it go Natsu. They're gone. Hopefully they survive the mission." Makarov said darkly. There was no way to track the kids, so it would be nothing but pointless effort being wasted to try and find them until they were already at the mission site. _

_Makarov stayed worried about the two boys, listening in on the gossip circles in town every day. He did not hear of any word on the deaths of the two boys, so he assumed they were still alive. _

_Then one day they appeared in front of him just as he was going to take a sip of beer. _

_He spit it out in surprise and started coughing, drenching Shirosaki in beer. _

"_Damn it! Now I'm going to smell like beer for the rest of the day!" The boy groaned. The orange headed boy laughed._

"_Wonder what Yuzu'll say." The orange headed boy said, and the albino paled even more than he already was, a curious sight. _

"_Aw, shit. I've got to wash this stuff off!" Shirosaki exclaimed._

"_But first we need to do what we came here to do, right?" The orange headed one said, gesturing towards Makarov. _

"_Oh right." Shirosaki pulled a heavy-looking box out of his bag, and set it on the counter of the bar, Makarov still too shocked to say anything. He opened the box up, revealing that it was stuffed with money. _

_He lifted half of the amount of and dropped it on the counter, then closed the box up, replacing it in his bag._

"_Okay old man, have this money as an apology and a thank you for us taking the request." Shirosaki said, scooting the money over to Makarov. Makarov finally snapped out of his shock and shook his head._

"_No, I can't take money from children!" Makarov exclaimed, pushing the stack away. _

"_Shut up old man! Just take the damn money before I lose my patience!" The pale boy growled. _

"_No. Although you did wrongly take the request, it was still you who completed it, thus you must take the request money." Makarov refused stubbornly, pushing the money even closer to Shirosaki._

_The orange headed boy glared at Makarov, and snatched the money stacks up. "I'll just go ahead and solve this problem right now before we're even later than we already are for Zangetsu and Tensa's training." He said, getting into a pitcher's form. _

"_Wait, what?" Makarov said, staring with wide eyes at him._

"_Ichigo seriously, don't throw the damn– " Shirosaki started._

_**WHAM!**_

_The money, separated and held in place in sleeves, then tied in a stack with a piece of string; hit Makarov in the head so hard it sent him flying across the guild._

"_Run for it Shi!" The orange headed boy yelled, and they high tailed it out of Fairy Tail. _

"_Ow~" Makarov muttered from a table top, the people sitting there staring at him in shock._

Makarov reached up and rubbed his forehead, remembering the large and painful bump that had been there for weeks after the incident.

" – And then Ichigo saved me and Shirosaki from the dogs! He looked so cool, and he wasn't scared at all!" Orihime said, gesturing wildly with her arms. Apparently she had started babbling when he had zoned out.

"What?" He questioned, blinking slowly.

"Ah, you weren't listening were you? Geez!" Orihime pouted. "That's just like Ichigo!" She grumbled.

"I'm sorry. I was hit by a sudden memory." Makarov explained.

"Oh! That happens to me a lot, like this one time I was ordering ice cream; I spaced out while trying to remember what my favorite shape of sprinkles were, and got in trouble with Tatsuki for it. She lectured me for an hour about how I need to pay more attention." Orihime said, and then stopped in front of some gates beside the sidewalk.

_This girl certainly is strange…_ Makarov thought briefly.

"We're here! This is my apartment complex. Pretty cool, huh?" Orihime said excitedly, pushing the gate open.

"You're late Inoue." A voice said off to the side. Makarov jumped, but Orihime simply whirled around with a grin. The voice belonged to a teenage boy in white clothes. He had black hair and was wearing glasses.

"Ahahaha, I'm sorry Uryu! But I passed by a stand that was selling jewelry, and I saw this really cool keychain!" Orihime said, holding out the object. It was a simple pentagon with the number '15' engraved into it, and on the other side a large 'X'. It was on a braided rope lanyard. "Think Ichigo will like it?" She asked.

"Yeah, he'll like it." A large male said, startling Makarov once again. He had tanned skin, dark wavy hair and a rather large and muscular build.

_H-huge!_ Makarov thought, staring up at the towering teen in shock.

"Oh hey, Sado! You really think so?" Orihime asked.

"Yes, yes, I'm sure he'll love it. Now let's all go inside and start talking. There is a Sewing Club meeting later that I wish to attend." Uryu said, ushering everyone up the stairs of the apartments and inside Orihime's house. Once inside, the teens sat down at the coffee table.

Makarov looked around nervously. _Are they really going to give me tell me whatever I want to know? _

"I know what you're thinking. Something like, 'Are they going to really tell me everything?' right? It's written all over your face." Uryu said, pushing up his glasses. "And the answer is…"

"Yes." All three of the teens said in unison.

"Why? Why would you tell a complete outsider what is clearly a secret amongst the guild members in this town?" Makarov asked. Orihime giggled.

"Well you see, we're not really part of the guild, you know?" Orihime said, scratching her head.

"We took no oath of silence, and so we may speak if we want." Uryu added.

"Ichigo is all alone where he's at now. He needs all the support he can get." Sado continued.

"And so we're going to trust you with Ichigo's past, our past, and the Soul Society's past, because we think you could help the fool. He's always trying to handle things by himself." Uryu finished.

Makarov stared at the three teens. That kind of trust, to share one's burdens with another, was something very few teenagers had. And the fact that they had chosen _him_ to give the trust to…he had better not screw this up.

"I feel honored." Makarov said, bowing slightly as he still hadn't taken a seat.

"God…Ichigo's going to kill us when he finds out about this…" Uryu muttered, lifting his glasses and rubbing his eyes. Sado nodded, and Orihime looked down at her hands. "Oh well. I haven't ever been on very good terms with him in the first place." Uryu said, fixing his glasses.

"Well that's true." Orihime agreed.

"So where do we start…?"

_**Mmndfkjrfdjnjenvdfjngjengjfngjdfngjfdngjfdngjdfgn**_

_**AN: Jlsdjkhffjkngt. So short~ I'm sowwy. But you'll get the next one next Tuesday! (I hope)**_

_**So, read, review, favorite, follow, and all the other fun stuff people on Fanfiction do. Cx**_

_**Pairings (friendship, enemies, frenemies, lovers, etc.), plot suggestions, fight suggestions, magic suggestions, suggestions in general, critiques, etc. are all welcome! **_

_**Until next time~ ciao!**_

_**~ Luci-chan**_


	8. Chapter Eight: The Past

_**AN: Hello, Luci Fergess here! I present to you the eighth chapter of The New Guild in Town! Hope you like it!**_

_**WARNING – Lots of explanations that probably don't make sense half the time, slight OOCness, Bleach event and fact bending, swearing, violence, random POV changing, flashbacks, Aizen, and other shits. c:**_

_**If you happen to read this chapter and think, oh hey, maybe it would be better if this happened instead of this, or this idea would fit nicely here, or something along those lines, feel free to PM me your idea or mention it in your review!**_

_**Also thank you to those of you who reviewed, favorited, and followed this story! Especially to those who have reviewed more than once- saddas74, SLfangirl16, Takei Daloui, Flightstar, 3Alaska3, Bm18, MonkeyDWriter, Bladedknight and Friaku! Thank you so much! Everyone's reviews are what keep me going! **_

_**Also, I've been given some pairing suggestions… ^-^ Ichigo/Erza Ichigo/Harribel, Ichigo/Erza/Harribel and Ichigo/Rukia. I'll throw in Poll on my profile! Only two weeks to vote! I'll add more pairing suggestions if they are given! I'll pick one pairing that is voted for the most, to be fair! **_

_**ON WITH THE CHAPTER~!**_

* * *

_The New Guild in Town_

Chapter Eight: The Past

* * *

_Last time…_

"_God…Ichigo's going to kill us when he finds out about this…" Uryu muttered, lifting his glasses and rubbing his eyes. Sado nodded, and Orihime looked down at her hands. "Oh well. I haven't ever been on very good terms with him in the first place." Uryu said, fixing his glasses._

"_Well that's true." Orihime agreed._

"_So where do we start…?"_

* * *

"How about we start with when each of us met Ichigo?" Chad suggested.

"Yeah!" Orihime agreed, clapping her hands together.

"Well…Orihime you start, since you met him first." Uryu said, glancing at her. Her eyes widened, and she began looking nervous.

"Oh…well, it was a long time ago. Back when I was in middle school, you see?" Orihime started. She stood up and walked over to a small table with a picture frame and incense. She lifted the picture frame and brought it back, handing it to Makarov.

"Who's this?" Makarov asked, looking at the man in the picture. He had brown hair and kind eyes, and was wearing a blue suit.

"That's my big brother. He had gotten in an accident one day when I was a sixth year, and we had had a big fight over these," She reached up and touched the blue flower hair pins holding back her bangs. "He had bought them for me, but I thought they looked childish so I didn't want to wear them. He got injured in an accident while protecting me, so I carried him to the nearest clinic – Kurosaki Clinic. But they couldn't save him with their equipment, and he died before he could be transferred to a hospital. I begged him not to leave me alone, to not die, to wake up…but none of it made a difference. He still died.

"Ichigo has always held pity towards me, and held some guilt because of my brother's death happening in his father's clinic, and how I had to live alone since then because of it. Then in high school…well, do you believe in ghosts, Mr. Makarov?" Orihime asked.

Makarov stared at her, shocked by the sudden question. "Well…no, I don't." Makarov answered after thinking about it.

"Well, they exist. They're the souls of the dead which have not passed on, usually because of something tying them to this world, and continue to exist here. The reason most people don't believe they exist is because they cannot see them, hear them, touch them…but Ichigo can. He always has, from the time he was born until now. Everyone in the Soul Society can see spirits as well, and use a magic called 'Konso' to exorcise them. It's a technique that only members of the guild should know, so when Ichigo learned it from Rukia, it was a big deal. I'll explain that later.

I couldn't see ghosts until my brother, who had become a ghost because of my cries and pleads for him not to leave me, attacked me. He had become angry because he thought I had forgotten all about him, and wanted to kill me so we could be together again. Ichigo and Rukia, the girl that you first asked about Ichigo, had gotten a feeling it would happen, so they came to save me just in time. Ever since then I could see ghosts.

I couldn't use magic, since I wasn't a mage at the time, but I still wanted to help Ichigo anyway I could. This led to the discovery of my _Shun Shun Rikka Magic_. It can limit, reject, and negate any kind of event that has happened to my target. Basically, it returns them to their former state, no matter what has happened to them. I can also repel attacks with another shield, and fire an attack that basically splits the enemy in two. All of these powers are manifested with six small fairy-like beings, which materialize from these pins." Orihime tapped the hair pins, "I think of it as my brother's way of protecting me from heaven." She said quietly, a small smile on her face. "I've been helping Ichigo in his battles since." She finished, glancing around.

Makarov blinked. It was a lot of information to process, and he was having a bit of trouble with it. "So ghosts are real, you can see ghosts, everyone in the Soul Society can see ghosts, Ichigo can see ghosts, and ghosts can attack people. Also the Soul Society doubles as an exorcist guild and you can restore anything." Makarov summed up. Orihime thought about it, and then nodded.

"Yep! Pretty much." She said, grinning.

"Then I'm next…" Sado said, and Makarov turned his attention to the teen.

"Are you going to tell the whole thing, or are you going to stop in the middle of it like you usually do?" Uryu asked, raising an eyebrow at Sado.

"…" Sado stayed silent, and Uryu's eye twitched.

"Sado…." Uryu started.

"I'll tell him." Sado said, interrupting him. He looked through his hair at Makarov, and opened his mouth. "I've known Ichigo since middle school as well. But through very different circumstances." Sado said, reaching up and fingering the golden medallion on a thin chain around his neck. "I was born here in Fiore, but my parents moved with me to another country when I was still a baby. They died when I was eight, and I was adopted by my grandfather. I used to be very violent, and I used my size to my advantage.

"My grandfather tried to teach me to be kind and gentle, but I wouldn't listen. Then the fathers of a few kids I had injured came for revenge, but he saved me by taking the beating for me, not once retaliating. I tried to become a better person because of this, and my grandfather gave me this medallion to remind me of it. He then died a few years later, and I vowed to never fight again unless it was to protect others, even if my own life was in danger.

"I moved back to Fiore afterwards, and entered the middle school here in Karakura. I first met Ichigo when he was being attacked by some thugs, and helped him out. Later on I was being attacked by some gang members, and Ichigo saved me. I told him about my medallion, and the gang found out somehow, and came after me again for revenge. Then they took my medallion and threatened to destroy it, but Ichigo came and saved me once again, and took back my medallion.

"After that we made a pact to fight for one another and always protect each other. And that's exactly what we've done since. I learned how to use a type of magic so I could keep that promise, called _Fullbring Magic_." Sado closed his eyes and clenched his fist around the medallion tightly, then released it and opened his eyes, staring at Makarov.

Makarov stared right back. _Having such a big impact on people…this kid Ichigo, he's quite something. These children too. Still so strong, even with such sad tales…they'd make good Fairy Tail members._

"So what about you?" Makarov asked, looking at the last boy curiously, and the latter frowned.

"There's not much to tell. Ichigo was associated with the Soul Society, and my family has long since been at odds with them, since they believe their powers to be superior to ours, and we believe the opposite. So I challenged him, but then everything went awry and we ended up having to work together to force back a gang. I've been dragged into his little adventures since." Uryu explained shortly, and Makarov raised an eyebrow.

"That's it?" He asked.

"Well of course. I wouldn't allow Ichigo to be such an influence in my life, like these two. My pride as a Quincy simply won't have any of it." Uryu explained, pushing up his glasses.

"Your pride as a what?"

Uryu froze, but then began to tremble in anger. "DOES NO ONE KNOW WHO MY FAMILY IS? THE QUINCY! THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN SAVING YOU SINCE THE SOUL SOCIETY IS COMPLETELY INCOMPETENT! THE PEOPLE WHO – " Orihime's hand went over Uryu's mouth and Sado restrained him.

"Sorry about that, Mr. Makarov! Uryu's been a bit sensitive lately without Ichigo here to bicker with. He'll never admit it, but they were actually good friends." Orihime explained quickly. "Uryu! Calm down!" She ordered, flicking said person's forehead.

"Mmphf!" Uryu exclaimed, voice muffled by Orihime's hand.

"So anyway, where should I even start? There's so much to tell." Orihime said, ignoring the struggling Uryu that was still being restrained by Sado.

"Well…why don't you just tell me everything, right from the beginning? Makarov said, staring at Orihime curiously. Orihime smiled.

"Well that makes sense…" She tapped her chin in thought, before sighing.

"Okay, well, I'm a little bit out of the loop about the whole thing, since Ichigo doesn't really like telling people about the stuff behind his birth, but basically there is this man named Sosuke Aizen, who was a part of the Soul Society. He was secretly conducting illegal experiments, the Vizard Generation one of the many. A magic called _Instant Regeneration Magic_ was of interest of him, and so he began to create subjects for testing.

"Not many details are known about the experiments done. We do know that he created identical twins as subjects, but it's unknown if that was the intentional result or not. Only one twin was experimented on, and if they proved to be unable to use the _Instant Regeneration Magic _one twin was killed and the other was framed for the murder, thus forcing the then kids to go into hiding. All of this was to cover up his experiments. However a man named Kisuke Urahara found out about it and confronted Aizen, only to be framed by him as the person who forced the children to kill their twins.

"After that Urahara went into hiding as well, and assisted the leftover twins until they were old enough to take care of themselves. Aizen apparently put the experiment on hold after that because of its unsuccessfulness. But then a few years later, Aizen tried again, and the result was Ichigo and his brother Shirosaki, whose name then was Jirou. Shirosaki was able to use the _Instant Regeneration Magic_, so both he and Ichigo were spared by Aizen, and given back to their parents, who believed they had been kidnapped and Aizen had rescued them.

"Ichigo and Shirosaki were enrolled into karate classes by their worried parents, so they would be able to defend themselves. There they met and became friends with Tatsuki Arisawa. A year or so later tragedy struck, and their mother Misaki was killed by some thugs while protecting both Ichigo and Shirosaki.

"After that their father asked their god parents, Kisuke Urahara and Yoruichi Shihoin to train them. But instead of training the twins together, they sent Ichigo to go see this man that lives higher up the mountain in a village. The people of the village are expert swordsmen, and the people of the Soul Society have all trained under one of them, and adopted whatever magic they use.

"So Ichigo went up there and trained under the man, named Zangetsu. He taught him how to use _Solid Magic_, which basically lets him solidify his magic into razor-sharp waves, and fire them off on command. He could use his hands to fire off the waves, or he could use a sword, provided by Zangetsu, to channel his energy and fire it off, making the wave more powerful. The waves were called 'Getsuga Tensho' by Zangetsu, and it was made the firing command for Ichigo.

"Urahara taught Shiro how to use a magic called _Convert Magic_. His magic is called out and converted into a solidified ball of explosive energy that generates at the tip of his finger. He then fires it off on command, much like Ichigo does. The command for firing it is called 'Cero'. Then to make it more powerful, Shirosaki puts on a mask. It's a terrifying mask, really. At the tips of the mask's horns, a ball of energy generates, and it's even more powerful and destructive than the one fired off from his finger.

"After they both learned the basics of their magic, they were sent to Zangetsu's brother, Tensa. Tensa then taught them a magic which required both of them to do. It was called _Merge Magic._ It was where Ichigo and Shirosaki merged together to form another being even more powerful than they are by themselves. Tensa demonstrated this with Zangetsu, merging together to form 'Tensa Zangetsu'.

"However a drawback of this magic is that their personalities are almost completely lost while in this form, and just about nothing but pure primal instinct remains. This causes them to become merciless, and makes them unable to differentiate friend from foe, instead attacking all that show aggression towards them. However if you leave them be, and show no aggression, they'll completely ignore you. They apparently still retain their ability to think somehow, and can speak, use battle tactics, analyze an opponent's moves and strategize, among other things.

"They can also merge with other people who can utilize the magic. Which is what they did, merging with Zangetsu and Tensa. However a merge between four people requires an extremely large amount of energy, so it took them quite a few days to recover.

"After this, they finally came home, and there was this big celebration among the family. They were enrolled into middle school afterwards, and later on met us. However Shirosaki proved to have a rebellious streak and ran off to join a guild. He apparently didn't like the experience much, since he quit a month later and became a guild hopper, leaving Ichigo in Karakura Town all by himself.

"Earlier in the year, a spirit attacked Ichigo's family, but they were saved just in time by Rukia Kuchiki, a member of the Soul Society. However there were apparently a few ghosts had ganged up on her, so she was made unable to fight. After that she taught Ichigo Konso quickly, and he exorcised all of the ghosts.

"Afterwards Rukia was set for imprisonment, since it was a technique no person outside the Soul Society should know. Urahara then taught Ichigo a proper Konso, and helped tracked down Shirosaki in order to help Ichigo. Ichigo, Shirosaki, Uryu, Sado, and I all went to the Soul Society to stop Rukia's sentence. During our invasion, Aizen, along with Captain Gin Ichimaru and Captain Kaname Tousen betrayed the Soul Society and left to start a new guild. There were many battles before and after that, but in the end we still saved Rukia and she was pardoned, while Ichigo became a temporary member of the Soul Society.

"Later on it was discovered Aizen had founded a dark guild, and was aiming to take down the Magic Council of Fiore and become dictator. But then Aizen did something unexpected – he kidnapped me." Orihime paused looking down at her hands. Uryu had long since ceased his struggling, and Sado had let him go.

Uryu ruffled Orihime's hair unexpectedly, and she looked up in surprise.

"It wasn't your fault Orihime, it was either you go with them, or Aizen's guild would attack us. No one blames you for your choice." He said softly, and Orihime smiled.

"Yeah…I guess…" She mumbled. "But back to the story, I was taken to Las Noches and Ichigo came to save me. He at first went to negotiate, but was refused by Aizen's subordinate Tousen entrance to the guild. So Ichigo returned with Shirosaki, Uryu, and Sado, determined to break in and rescue me. He was later joined by Rukia and a man named Renji Abarai, who became friends with Ichigo during the invasion of the Soul Society.

"Together they all broke in and began battling everyone who tried to stop them, and became allies with a few of the members of Las Noches. Once I had been rescued, Ichigo decided that he was going to put an end to Las Noches in order to save the friends he had made there. So he approached Aizen and attempted to negotiate, but when that failed, he used brute force. Tousen tried to protect Aizen, but was fatally wounded in the process, Gin surrendered, but Aizen challenged Ichigo and Shirosaki. They used merge magic and incapacitated him. Afterwards they gave the guild a choice.

"Either they could convert to a legal guild, or they could be sent to the Magic Council with Aizen. Pretty much everyone agreed to convert, so Ichigo vouched for them during their trials, along with Shirosaki and I. The ending result being that the Council would spare the guild, as long as one, Aizen was handed over, two, Shirosaki was handed over for the destruction and crimes he had caused and committed, three, all of the guild members stayed together in one guild in order to make watching them easier, and four, that Ichigo become the guild master of the guild, watching over them.

"So Ichigo had to move away and become guild master of Las Noches, the name changed to Hollow Moon shortly after. Shirosaki was imprisoned until trial, in which he had apparently been convicted. We haven't really heard much since then from Ichigo; he's trying so hard to do all the paperwork, deal with his guild's daily brawls, and other stuff." Orihime huffed, her long explanation finally finished.

"Wow…" Was all Makarov could muster up. Uryu snorted.

"I know. Ichigo always has trouble following him right on his heels, no matter where he goes or what he does." Uryu propped his head on his hand.

"He really does…" Sado murmured.

"So what about you? Do you have any information you think you should share with us?" Uryu asked, adjusting his glasses.

"Well…nothing you probably haven't already heard. His guild is still being examined by the town, I heard he got into a fight with a thug, and he threw a welcoming party for his guild." Makarov counted off a finger with each tid-bit he said.

"Hm…well at least Ichigo had hopefully acquired a reliable ally with this. Good luck Mr. Makarov, you'll need it with Ichigo around." Uryu said, his frown lessening a little bit.

Makarov glanced at the clock which was placed on the wall, and his eyes widened at the time it was. He had spent a good three hours here, listening to their stories. Now it was just past lunch time, and going by his growling stomach, it was time to eat.

"Ah! Mr. Makarov, would you like to eat with us? Uryu is cooking tonight, since he says I have to cook every night." Orihime explained. "It's a shame really, I wanted some ice cream and udon noodles…" She pouted.

_What is wrong with this girl?_ Makarov thought, staring at her.

"Believe me when I say it's not her oddest choice of food, or combination." Uryu said, paling a bit as he seemed to remember his past experiences with Orihime's food.

"Ah, well, since it'll be you cooking, it should be fine, right? You can cook, right? Right?" Makarov asked nervously, and Uryu nodded.

"I can."

"Great! Let's get lunch started, I'm starving!" Orihime said excitedly, waving her arms around.

"Yes Orihime…" Uryu muttered.

* * *

After the pleasant lunch with the teenagers and afterwards an equally pleasant evening, Makarov went back to the hotel feeling satisfied. He had clutched in his hands a neatly wrapped present for Ichigo, which was the keychain form Orihime, with a letter from all three of them stuffed inside.

When he got to his room and sat down in a chair at the desk located in the room, he sighed. _This whole thing is so much more complicated than I thought._ He thought wearily.

He decided after a few hours of goofing around in his room to go to sleep earlier than he had for the past few days. As he snuggled into the warm blankets and comfy pillows, he slowly felt himself drifting off to sleep, peaceful dreams awaiting him.

* * *

_**AN: Shitty ending, but whateverrrrrrrr.**_

_**SO. MUCH. EXPLAINING. My fucking brain hurts from having to come up with all this shit, so I'm feeling pretty damn irritable now. Pardon my French. I need an aspirin…**_

_**So anyway. You know how I said I'd post every Tuesday? Fuck that. I'm changing it to Mon-Wed. If I don't post at least one chapter that week on any of those three days, it's not going to come until the next week. Sorry about the inconvenience. . **_

_**Review, favorite, follow, suggest, give me pairings, friendships, enemies, vote on the pairing poll, correct any mistakes you find (nicely if you can…), tell me how to make people more in character…and all that other fun stuff. c:**_

_**Ciao!**_

_**~ Luci-chan **_


	9. Chapter Nine: The Demonstrations

_**AN: Greetings, fellow Earthlings! This is Luci Fergess coming at you with chapter nine of The New Guild in Town! Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy! **_

_**THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED AND PMed ME! It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and a warm and fuzzy author updates faster. (hint hint)**_

_**Just so you guys know, the poll was acting spazzy and shits on Monday, so it wasn't working. Now it is up and working for real on my profile! I swear! . The totals so far (with vptes given through PM counting) are: **_

_**IchigoxErza - 1  
IchigoxHarribel - 0  
IchigoxErzaxHarribel - 1  
IchigoxRukia - 0  
IchigoxNelliel - 1  
I don't want any pairings in this story! - 2  
I don't care... - 0  
UlquiorraxOrihime - 1**_

_**So, if you're not happy with these results, you're welcome to give your two cents in either a PM, review, or by voting in the poll! I mean, c'mon guys! I know there are more of you out there!**_

_**WARNING- OOCness, swearing, explanations and other fun stuff. c: **_

_**ON WITH THE CHAPTER~**_

* * *

The New Guild in Town

Chapter Eight: The Demonstrations

* * *

"Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"No."

"Pretty please with a strawberry on top?"

"I said no."

"But – "

"No."

"What's the problem now?" Grimmjow asked, walking up to the table Ichigo and Shirosaki were currently sitting at.

"Ichi is being an ass, that's what." Shirosaki explained, examining his black nails casually.

"Excuse me for not wanting to go on a "fun" adventure with one of the biggest trouble magnets in the universe." Ichigo grumbled, crossing his arms.

"At least he's not as bad as you." Grimmjow pointed out, grinning. Ichigo glared at him half-heartedly.

"Come on, you know you want to go. It'll be just like old times. Hell, we could even go and snatch a request from Fairy Tail too." Shiro launched into speech about how Ichigo needed to get out more.

"Make it stop!" Ichigo groaned, dropping his head onto the table. Grimmjow laughed.

"Aw, come on Ichigo; go have fun with your little brother. I'll run things for you while you're gone!" Grimmjow exclaimed, clapping Ichigo on the shoulder.

"Didn't you get your ass knocked out the last time I left the guild?" Ichigo questioned.

"Are questioning my ability to hold my own in a fight?" Grimmjow growled.

"No. Just going to state the fact that you're the Sexta, with six others above you rank wise." Ichigo explained, shrugging his shoulders.

"Bastard…" Grimmjow glared at Ichigo, but he glared right back.

"Nel, Grimmjow said he wants a hug from you!" Ichigo shouted, watching as the green-haired woman looked up from the book she was reading.

"Okay!" She shouted back, setting her book back down.

"Why you little – " Grimmjow hissed.

"Alright Shi, let's go. I'll just put Barragan in charge. He seemed to somewhat be able to reign things in last time. After that I'll grab Zangetsu and we can go." Ichigo got up from his seat just as Nel flew past and glomped Grimmjow, Shirosaki following his path over to Barragan excitedly.

"Oi, Barragan! Watch the guild for me, would you? If someone starts something, use your magic on them to slow 'em down 'til I get back." Ichigo said, and the old man frowned.

"Why should I, exactly?" He asked.

"Because I'm leaving, and if you let the guild to be blasted to smithereens while I'm gone, I'll make you rebuild it by yourself." Ichigo explained, walking away.

"Che." The Barragan glared at Ichigo's retreating back, "Fine. You'll owe me though."

"Of course." Ichigo replied, not even bothering to turn around.

* * *

"So let me get this straight. He took down some mega-lord god-wannabe evil guy with his brother, rescued a friend, captured said evil guy, one of the evil guy's henchmen, and converted a dark guild into a legal one, then became the master of it?" Lucy asked incredulously.

"Don't forget the part about him being able to see and exorcise ghosts." Mirajane added.

"Yes, yes, he apparently did all that, and much more." Makarov nodded, scratching his face. Currently everyone in the guild was in a very rare moment of calm and silence and gathered around Makarov. They were listening to his explanation of what's been driving him nuts the past few days, and all the past that went along with it.

"That's a little hard to believe…" Lucy said grimacing.

"Well it's all we've got on him, so we'll just have to go with it for now." Makarov said.

"Wow! I knew it! He's really, really strong." Natsu said, smiling like usual.

"Poor kid. He had a really fucked up childhood." Macao muttered.

"Didn't you say he could merge with other people to become some kind of instinctual being?" Erza asked.

"It's what I've been told. I have no idea whether it's true or not though."

"Wonder if we asked him about all this if he'd tell us?" Lucy said.

"Wish he was here so we could just that." Erza said, sighing.

With a loud bang the door of Fairy Tail was violently shoved open, two bickering teenagers standing in the doorway.

"Shi, I told we can't just waltz in and expect them to be okay with it!" One of them said, frowning.

"Relax, Ichigo! I'm sure it'll be fine. You're friends with them, right?" The other one, an albino replied lazily.

"I only know six of them!" The other argued, following the albino further in.

"Six. Six is a good number. I can work with six." The albino said, grinning.

Upon further inspection, it was realized by those that knew them that it was none other than Ichigo and Shirosaki.

"Speak of the devil…" Gray muttered.

"Yo! Don't mind us. Just casually passing through. Totally not here for a request or anything." The twin unnamed to some, Shiro said waving. Makarov frowned.

"Perfect timing Ichigo. And you must be his twin brother, Jirou." Makarov said holding out his hand.

Shiro's eyes flashed with anger, and his hand reached back for the sword on his back. Ichigo noticed this and grabbed his arm before his fingers could curl around the hilt.

"Shi, don't. He doesn't know." Ichigo said firmly, and Shiro look at him for a moment before relaxing his arm. He turned his sharp gaze to Makarov.

"Don't ever call me Jirou again. You won't get a second warning, and Ichigo can't hold me back forever." He growled.

"Hm, Shirosaki, then?" Makarov asked, acting calm. Really and truly, the way Shiro's eyes glowed with fury had unnerved him quite a bit. A nod was all he received from the twin.

"Well Ichigo," Makarov gestured to the gift bag next to him, and smiled, "This is for you." He picked it up and held it out to him, but Ichigo just stared at it.

"What is it?" Ichigo asked suspiciously.

"Well, it's a gift for you from a girl I met on my travels, along with two other boys. I believe their names were Orihime, Uryu, and Sado?" Makarov explained, studying Ichigo's reaction.

His eyes narrowed and his scowl deepened. "Why?" He questioned.

"Well, because they had heard me asking around about you, so they explained to me your history and then we had dinner. Orihime wanted me to give this to you. It contains three letters from the trio and a gift from Orihime." Makarov explained calmly.

Shiro sighed and rolled his eyes, his previous agitation apparently forgotten. "Leave it to them to spill the beans." He smirked at his brother, who was taking the gift from Makarov.

"Why were you asking about me?" Ichigo asked, looking at Makarov seriously.

"I'll answer that question." Lucy said raising her hand. "It's because guild's don't just pop up out of the ground like yours did, plus a lot of things just weren't adding up. It was a mystery just dying to be uncovered." She explained, smiling.

"Tut tut. You're still flashy and attention grabbing I see, 'King'." Shiro said, smirking at Ichigo. Ichigo glared at him.

"Shut up, 'Horse'!" Ichigo exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger.

"Oh, so I'm 'Horse' again, huh? Wonder how long you can keep the crown, 'King'?" Shiro asked, cackling.

The two twins began fighting, throwing playful punches and kicks at each other, pulling hair, tickling, and pinching too. They were also bickering back and forth, throwing insults and smack talking each other.

Makarov watched the two for a few moments, as the rest of the guild did, before he lost his patience. "Stop it, you fools!" He roared, going Titan-Mode and looming over them.

"Oh wow~ Gramps got really big…" Shiro said, pausing to stare. He had one hair tangled in Ichigo's hair, the other pinching his cheek.

"He looks kind of mad…wonder why?" Ichigo said, stopping to stare as well. He had his hands gripping fistfuls of Shiro's clothing, and was shaking him before stopping to stare.

_They're idiots…_ Everyone in the guild had the same thought, sweat dropping.

Suddenly someone coughed, and everyone turned their attention to the source. It was Erza.

"Pardon me, I don't mean to be rude, but could you demonstrate your magic for us?" She asked seriously.

"Eh?" Ichigo looked at her blankly, releasing his grip on Shiro.

"And will we get in return?" Shiro asked, releasing Ichigo as well.

"Well, um…" Erza trailed off, unsure how to answer.

"He's just messing with you. We'll gladly show you. Not like it's some big secret or anything. Or at least most of it isn't…" Ichigo scratched his face, looking at Shiro.

"Don't look at me. I didn't learn Konso, you did. I was too busy being terrorized by ghosts." Shiro said, shrugging.

"Fuck. Alright, let's go outside or something. Don't want to blow the place to bits, now do we…?" Ichigo said, turning and walking towards the doors, Shiro following.

* * *

"Getsuga Tensho." Ichigo said firmly, slashing his arm sideways. A large arc of black-red magic was shot at a tree, effectively cutting it in half.

There were many ooh!'s and ahh!'s and some clapping. Ichigo bowed, then straightened, reaching inside the coat he was wearing and drawing a sword.

An ink black colored blade, with an equally black swastika guard, black hilt, and a black chain hanging from the end of the hilt.

Everyone watched with attention as Ichigo raised his sword and swung it carefully, saying, "Getsuga Tensho," as he did so. An even larger and more refined-looking arc was sent flying at another helpless tree, slicing it in half as well.

Ichigo bowed once again and then sheathed his sword. "Alright, demonstration of 'Flash Step Magic' now." He said. He stood still and looked at everyone. Then he disappeared, and reappeared about 40 or so feet away from his original spot. "Nothing special. Just moving really fast." Ichigo said, shrugging.

"Yeah, yeah, you're amazing. Move." Shiro said, Moving to the center of the large space they were gathered in.

He glanced at everyone and waited until Ichigo was safely off to the side before raising a hand and pointing at a tree. A red magic circle appeared at the tip of his finger, and a ball of swirling red energy formed near the center of the magic circle. It grew bigger until it was about the size of softball.

"Cero." Shiro intoned, and the ball shot off quickly, flying at the tree leaving a crimson trail of energy in its wake. It hit the tree and with a boom exploded, blasting a hole in the tree trunk and sending tree bits everywhere.

There was applause, and Shiro grinned. He reached behind him and lifted a mask off his back, fastening it over his face. Black in color, it had two white stripes going down from the top of the mask to the jaw, black angled horns, and sharp teeth. The eye holes were barely wide enough to see his entire eye, and his golden irises looked especially frightening behind the menacing mask.

He turned away from everyone and took up an odd stance, looking like a bull about to charge with the horns on the mask lowered.

To everyone's amazement, a twisting ball of energy formed between the horns with a crackle, and grew until it was as big as his head.

They heard a heavily distorted command, "Cero," come from Shiro, and the ball shot off with a roar, hitting the tree before they could blink.

Well, actually it hit more than one tree. More like 40 trees. Completely obliterated. Along with whatever ground they were growing in.

Silence settled over the small crowd, and they ogled Shiro in shock.

There was a whistle and clapping, both coming from Ichigo. "Just can't hold back, can you? And you call _me _flashy." Ichigo yelled. Shiro flipped Ichigo off, not even bothering to turn around.

"Demonstration of Sonido." Shiro called out, his voice gurgled and echoing. He disappeared with a dull noise, and reappeared next to Ichigo. "Same as Flash Step Magic," Shirosaki said, reaching up and lifting the mask so it rested on top of his head, "Only slightly different."

Makarov stared at the two boys in wonder. There magic was quite destructive, but it was also very limited. One attack, just magnified and refined with a medium to channel it through. Surely there was more to it.

"Is that it?" He asked, voicing his thoughts. The twins looked down at him in surprise.

"What do you mean?" Ichigo asked, brows furrowing.

"Is that all your magic is? Nothing more?" He clarified.

"Ohhh." Shiro said, nodding his head. "You're probably thinking something along the lines of, 'Very destructive, but very limited.' right?" He asked, raising a pale eyebrow.

"Well…yes."

"That's just our magic though. We have more physical skills than magical, really. We're expert hand-to-hand combatants; we have exceptional strength, speed, reflexes, and durability. Then we also have our swordsmanship to fall back on as well." Ichigo explained.

"Basically magic's just our K.O. move to use when we're in a bind." Shiro summed up.

"Interesting. Would it be possible for you to demonstrate the '_Merge Magic_' I've heard about?" Makarov asked. Ichigo shook his head and Shiro shrugged.

"Sorry old man. Too many risks, not enough people to restrain us if we go out of control." Ichigo replied.

"Do you doubt our ability to stop you if something goes wrong?" Erza questioned, looking miffed.

"Well, to put it bluntly…yes." Ichigo said, scratching his face.

"I believe we are perfectly capable of stopping you, if the need arises." Erza argued, crossing her arms and frowning.

"That's because you haven't seen it." Shirosaki said with the most serious face they'd seen on him yet. "Our merged form looks monstrous, and acts the part as well. There is no mercy, there is no hesitation, and there is no stopping it. At best someone would only be able to restrain the beast until we manage to gain control and split."

"It's not that we're disrespecting your abilities, it's just we're being extremely cautious with ours. We've already seen what happens when someone tries to stop us, and it isn't pretty." Ichigo explained hastily, trying to prevent an argument from breaking out.

"If it's that bad, why would you ever use it?" Someone asked. They turned to look to see it was Levy.

Ichigo's scowl returned. "Because Aizen was that powerful. We needed to use that magic to be able to fight on par with him."

"You guys ask too many damn questions." Shiro grumbled. Ichigo rolled his eyes.

"Run out of patience already, Shi?" Ichigo asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes! I came here to nab a request, not give a fucking lecture on how big and bad Aizen was." Shiro complained, rolling his shoulders.

"Point made. Makarov, since we've already gotten the gift bag, shown you our magic and explained some of our abilities, can we grab a request now? It's what we came here for in the first place." Ichigo said. Makarov waved his hand in dismissal.

"Go ahead. I don't care." Makarov replied.

The twins grinned and disappeared, leaving everyone there.

The guild members finally came to their senses and began the walk back to the guild.

"Wow. They're some pretty amazing teenagers." Lucy said, scribbling down notes on the boys.

"Oi, Natsu! They might be able to give you a run for your money in a fight." Macao laughed. Natsu nodded gleefully.

"I know! I _really _want to fight Ichigo, and when I asked him he told me 'maybe later'." Natsu explained excitedly.

"Well, let me know when and where. I wanna watch you get your ass handed to you by a couple of kids." Gray said, stretching. He had managed to only lose his shirt in the time since they left the guild, which was somewhat of a miracle.

"The fuck you say, bastard?" Natsu growled.

"I'm not repeating myself for you, dumbass!" Gray replied.

"Why you – " Natsu started, launching himself at Gray, but Erza grabbed him by the collar and held him up to glare at him.

"Why are you fighting?" She questioned angrily.

"W-what? Fighting? We weren't fighting. I was about to…give Gray a hug. Yeah. Right Gray?" Natsu lied nervously, sweating.

"Of course. You just interrupted a would-be manly bro hug." Gray agreed, just as nervous as Natsu.

"Oh! I'm sorry. I'll leave you two to it, then!" Erza said, dropping Natsu and moving ahead in the group to talk with Mirajane.

"That was close." Natsu muttered.

"Yeah, it was." Gray said.

"Manly bro hug, huh?" Lucy asked, popping up out of nowhere.

"AH!" Natsu and Gray yelled.

Lucy laughed at their expressions. They were priceless.

* * *

_**AN: Shitty chapter is shitty. I'm sorry. . **_

_**I really wanted to get this out on Monday to celebrate Lucy's birthday, (July 1**__**st**__**) but I didn't have it finished yet. **_

_**I blame it on my ADHD. I'm like, "Oh shit. How do you spell this word? I'll look it up on the wikia. And while the page is loading, I'll go ahead and read this chapter of this fanfiction right here. And OH SHIT SO AND SO'S ABOUT TO DIE IGOTTAREADTHENEXTCHAPTER and then my mom would be like, "Go exercise! Be active! Leave your room sometime! What are you, a hermit crab? NagNagNagNagNagNagFeedthedogsNagNagNagTakethetrash out …etc. etc.**_

_**And then it'd be the next day. Repeat for about a week or so and you get the chapter today. I'M SORRY!**_

_**Okay, so, vote on the pairing poll! Remember, if the pairing you want isn't there, PM it to me and I'll add it! Also, you can vote for the 'No Pairings' option! Or the 'IDGAF' option! **_

_**REVIEW! Please? It inspires me! And makes me happy. And happy authors do what? That's right. Update faster. **_

_**Ciao! **_

_**~ Luci-chan**_


	10. Chapter Ten: The Posters

_**AN: Okay, so the last chapter had mixed results. Some people didn't like it, some people liked it, some people didn't say, some people were confused… **_

_**But~ since some people weren't very pleased with the last one, I tried very hard with this one. I hope everyone enjoys it! (But you probably won't because of what happens…) Also, it's an early release. Woot woot!**_

_**Current Vote Count With PMs, Reviews, and Poll (THIS IS NOT THE FINAL RESULT):**_

_**IchigoxErzaxHarribel - 10  
IchigoxErza - 5  
IchigoxNelliel - 10  
I don't want any pairings in this story! - 6  
IchigoxHarribel - 2  
IchigoxRukia - 3  
I don't care... - 0  
UlquiorraxOrihime - 2  
IchigoxLucy - 1  
IchigoxOrihime – 0**_

_**I will try my hardest with the winning pairing. But don't expect roses floating around and stuff. I'm not very good with romance, and since it's so late in the story it'll be a little awkward if the characters suddenly start throwing themselves at each other. SO INSTEAD, it'll probably just be some flushed feelings and a couple of meaningful glances, some "NOO!"'s in battle, etc. etc. **_

_**WARNING – OOCness, slight Magic Council bashing, potty mouths, some bloody clothes, and other fun stuff.**_

_**ON WITH THE CHAPTER~**_

* * *

_The New Guild in Town_

Chapter Ten: The Posters

* * *

It had been two days since Ichigo and Shirosaki had left, and it was surprisingly calm inside Hollow Moon.

Mostly because half the guild members were put in slow motion by Barragan, including Nnoitra, the Tres Bestias, Yammy, and a few other nameless.

Everyone else was either on a mission, lazing around, or doing things around the guild. So when the doors to the guild were nearly taken off the hinges by a frantic and unlikely trio, there wasn't much commotion.

Grimmjow, Dondochakka and Pesche were panting, sweaty, and rather upset about something, but were too out of breath to speak yet.

"Big brothers!" Nelliel shouted in delight, quickly transforming in a POOF! of smoke and hugging the two.

After a few minutes, they had rested enough to speak. Pesche was cradling Nel in his skinny arms and gesturing at Grimmjow.

"Alright! I'm going, I'm going!" Grimmjow muttered, reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out some folded up parchment.

"Well go faster!" Dondochakka urged, making Grimmjow glare at him.

He unfolded the paper and held it up for everyone to see. Everyone stared at it in shock, worry, and anger.

In Grimmjow's hands, he held a wanted poster for none other than their Master, Ichigo Kurosaki.

* * *

"Damn. This was a brand new shirt too." Ichigo muttered, looking down at what once was an expensive t-shirt. Now it was smeared and splattered with blood – not his of course – torn, and covered in dust and dirt. His jeans were in a similar state, just not as bad. His coat had long since been abandoned and lost.

"It's your fault for wearing expensive shit on a monster extermination mission." Shiro said, brushing himself off in an attempt to make himself look a bit better. His clothes were in a slightly better state, only covered with more blood.

"What about you? Isn't that the shirt dad got you when he went on that trip to god-knows-where? That cost like, 1000 Jewels?" Ichigo asked. Shiro looked at him with a grin.

"Why do you think I wore it? Who needs a fucking pink shirt that says 'Daddy's Boy'?" Shiro asked incredulously, looking down at the ruined garment. "The man must have fell out of the stupid tree and hit every fucking branch on the way down." Shiro grumbled.

"He'll be heartbroken!" Ichigo said in mock horror.

"He's lucky his face didn't get broken when he gave me this." Shiro replied, stretching. "Let's start heading back. I'm sure there are already a shit load of troublemakers for you to deal with when you get back."

"Yeah, let's go collect the reward then. Got any extra loot from the monsters?" Ichigo questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Hm, picked up a couple of rings, a necklace, and a bracelet. These buggers were filthy rich. Look at this diamond!" Shiro said, holding out one of the rings to Ichigo. Ichigo examined it and nodded.

"Send one to Yuzu and Karin. I'm sure they'll like them. Or at least Yuzu will. Maybe a new soccer ball would be better for Karin…" Ichigo trailed off, handing the ring back to Shiro.

"Let's stop by some shops to get these cleaned and polished, then buy Karin a ball on the way to the guild." Shiro said, stuffing the jewelry in his pants pocket.

"Sounds like a plan." Ichigo replied. "Let's hurry then."

They used Sonido and Flash Step to quicken their travel to the village.

* * *

"What?!" Lucy exclaimed, dropping her pen. "Let me see that!" She hissed, snatching the poster from Natsu. She examined it carefully.

**WANTED:**

**Ichigo Kurosaki**

**Alive- 50,000 Jewels**

**For Various Criminal Activities**

His picture was put below the words, with his description put in smaller words below that.

Lucy's hands trembled as she held the parchment, and she read over it again. _Various criminal activities? What does that entail? _Lucy thought.

She glanced around the guild for Master Makarov. He was in his usual place on the bar top. She quickly stood and grabbed Natsu by his scarf and dragged him over to Makarov.

"Master, look what Natsu found." Lucy said, holding out the poster. Makarov took it and looked it over, eyes widening.

"What the hell…?" Makarov muttered.

* * *

"Pleasure doing business with you! Have a wonderful monster-free day." Ichigo said, shaking hands with the village chief. The chief smiled and waved as they left the large hut.

"Well this should be enough to last us for the month." Shiro said, eyeing the briefcase Ichigo held.

"Maybe. But half of it is going into the guild's funding." Ichigo replied, frowning.

"Aw, what? Why does my hard-earned money have to go into helping those fuckers?" Shiro complained.

"If my memory serves me right, I do believe you're the one that destroyed two tables, three chairs, ate six meals, destroyed a door, broke four bottles of vodka, and smashed our communication lacrima crystal." Ichigo listed, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh right…" Shiro grinned remembering his destructive rampage. "That was fun."

"Fun my ass! I had to deal with everyone's bitching about you." Ichigo grumbled.

"You know you're my favorite big brother in the whole world, right?" Shiro said, grinning.

"I'm you're only big brother, so that doesn't mean much. Especially since that title comes with a 70,000 Jewels price tag." Ichigo said frowning at his twin.

"What about being Yuzu and Karin's big brother?"

"I'm happy to claim that title. They don't get into trouble like you do." Ichigo replied.

"I'm hurt, Ichi." Shiro gasped mockingly.

"Oh shut it. Let's hurry to town to get that jewelry cleaned and buy the soccer ball." Ichigo said.

"Fine." Shiro grumbled.

They both used their respective magics to hurry to the nearest town.

* * *

"Rukia! Look at this!" Renji called, pointing at a poster on the side of a building. Rukia walked over at looked at it, her eyes widening.

"Take it with us. Captain-Commander Yamamoto will want to know about this." She said, moving so Renji could pull it down.

"What the hell is the idiot doing to piss off the council now?" Renji muttered, folding up the poster and pushing it into his jacket pocket.

* * *

"Hey, Shi! Look at this one! It's the same ball the pros use." Ichig said, holding up a box with a soccer ball in it.

"Put it in the cart! I'm busy looking at these cleats. What size shoe does Karin wear?" Shiro called back, down a few aisles.

"7 ½!" Ichigo yelled back, setting the ball in the basket.

"Could you perhaps quiet down a bit? You're disturbing other customers." An employee said, bowing.

"Oh. Sorry, we'll quiet down." Ichigo apologized and bowed back. He walked down the aisles to where Shiro was at. "C'mon."

"Alright. Think these are okay?" Shiro asked, holding up a box of red soccer cleats.

"Their fine. Let's go."

They took their items up to the register and paid for them, then left.

"Let's take the train from here. It'll be faster than on foot." Ichigo said, pointing at the train station.

"What, tired already?" Shiro questioned. Ichigo shook his head.

"It's just a pain in the ass to Flash Step with bags." He explained, heading towards the ticket booth.

"What an excuse." Shiro complained, frowning.

"Shut up." Ichigo growled, paying for the tickets. The train was conveniently already there; set to leave in two minutes.

Shirosaki laughed as they boarded the train.

* * *

"Could someone please explain to me why the fuck everyone is staring at us? I mean, I know I'm handsome, but that doesn't mean I want to be stared at like I just shit a litter of kittens and barfed a fucking rainbow!" Shiro hissed towards his brother.

"Shi, we're covering in dirt and blood, and our clothes are in shreds. Not to mention that creepy ass mask and the sword on your back and the sword on my hip." Ichigo whispered back.

"Tch. Feels like fucking elementary school all over again." Shiro muttered.

"Just take a nap. I'll wake you when we get there." Ichigo said, pushing his brother's head on his shoulder.

"You know it's only a forty-five minute ride, right?"

"Then you only get a forty-five minute nap! Now go to sleep!" Ichigo snapped.

"Fine…" Shiro muttered, closing his eyes.

* * *

"When the fuck do those idiots plan on coming back?" Grimmjow growled, pacing.

"Grimmjow calm down. I'm sure Master is already on his way back." Harribel said calmly.

"Calm? I'm perfectly fucking calm. Do you not see how calm I am?" Grimmjow asked, gesturing wildly. After a few moments he sighed and paused in his pacing. "I'm going to take a nap. Call me when they get back."

"Sure thing Grimm." Nel said smiling as Grimmjow headed upstairs.

"So what should we do about Shirosaki?" Zommari asked, staring at the wanted poster sitting in the middle of the table.

"What _can_ we do? He's probably going to try to race off to murder every single person on the Council for this." Szayel drawled.

"He's not that stupid, I hope. That'll just make things worse." Harribel crossed her arms as she spoke.

"He's done lots of things that are extremely stupid and dangerous, though." Nel pointed out.

"If things get out of hand I will restrain him." Ulquiorra offered.

"I will put a time barrier around the premises to prevent him from leaving until he's calm." Barragan added.

"Okay. Now all we can do is wait for them." Nel said.

"We'll go make dinner in the meantime. Does pasta sound good?" Dondochakka asked, standing from his seat. Everyone gave nods with various levels of enthusiasm.

"Right-e-o!" Pesche chirped, skipping to the kitchen with Dondochakka behind him.

* * *

"Silence!" Yamamoto yelled, and the arguing among the Captains stopped. "Now, 3rd Seat Rukia Kuchiki. Lieutenant Renji Abarai. Come forth and explain."

The pair stood from their kneeling position on the floor and bowed. "Yes sir. We were on our way back from an exorcism, and I noticed a wanted poster on the wall of the local magic shop. Upon closer examination I saw it was a wanted poster for Substitute Ichigo Kurosaki." Renji explained.

"Do you have proof of this?" Yamamoto asked. Rukia and Renji nodded.

"Yes, Captain-Commander." Rukia replied, holding up the poster where everyone could see.

"I see. This could be a problem, seeing as we are in his debt, and if we were to do nothing it would soil the honor of the Soul Society." Yamamoto said, leaning back in his chair.

"So what will we do?" Kyoraku asked, adjusting his hat.

"The only thing we can do. We will send assistance to Ichigo Kurosaki, to help defend him from the bounty hunters which will no doubt be after him. Anyone who wishes to join this group may. Spread the word." Yamamoto ordered.

"Yes Captain-Commander." Was the response.

"Good. This meeting is over." Everyone began filing out of the room, muttering.

* * *

"We're finally back." Ichigo commented as they walked down the street. They were getting quite a few stares, and the crowded street seemed to be parting for them.

"Are our clothes really that bad?" Shiro asked, looked down at his filthy shirt.

"Yeah." Ichigo replied, nodding.

"Psht. They act like they've never seen blood before." Shiro grumbled.

"Whatever. At least we didn't toss the shirts and walk around shirtless." Ichigo muttered.

"That'd be funny. Twin teenage boys walking down the street shirtless with filthy blood stained jeans? We'd get the authorities called on us. Again." Shiro said, laughing.

"God, don't remind me. That was such a hassle." Ichigo groaned as they rounded a corner.

"Hey, race you to the guild." Shiro grinned, pointing down the street at the guild.

"You're on." Ichigo challenged. "No magic?"

"None."

"Alright. Let's do this." Ichigo said, getting into a starting position.

"Readysetgo!" Shiro shouted, and they took off, scaring the shit out of people along the way.

In a mere forty seconds they were at the doors of Hollow Moon, panting.

"Who won?" Ichigo asked, glancing at Shiro.

"It was a tie." Shiro muttered, standing up straight.

"Damn." Ichigo cursed, reaching up and pushing open the door. "I could have sworn I touched the top step before you." He said, walking inside.

"You're imagining things, Ichi. It was a tie." Shiro replied, frowning.

"Hey guys, we're ba – what?" Ichigo asked, stopping.

"Ichigo…there's something we need to show you." Nel said, her face serious. Ichigo's earlier grin switched to a scowl.

"What is it?" He asked, taking note of the people in slow motion on the other side of the guild.

"This." Harribel said, holding up the wanted poster.

Both Ichigo and Shiroskai froze, reading it.

"Those fucking bastards." Shiro hissed.

* * *

_**AN: Alright! Finally some plot advancement. Sort of. And a cliff hanger. The best way to piss you guys off. c:**_

_**Thanks to everyone who reviewed, most of the reviews made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. . Which of course led me to updating today instead of Monday. **_

_**YAY! Okay, so, remember! Vote on the poll! Review! Favorite! Follow! **_

_**Monday, July 8th is the cut-off date for the pairing vote. Whatever has the most votes will be picked. ^-^**_

_**Ciao~!  
Luci-chan **_


	11. Chapter Eleven: The Beginning

_**AN: Oh hi! It's me again. ^-^ And I brought a new chapter with me! . **_

_**Thank you to everyone who reviewed! ^-^ It made me feel extremely happy. **_

_**POLL RESULTS! **_

**IchigoxErzaxHarribel – 16 (Winner)_  
_**IchigoxErza – 7  
IchigoxNelliel - 12 (2nd place (means nothing))  
I don't want any pairings in this story! - 11 (3rd place (still means nothing))  
IchigoxHarribel - 2  
IchigoxRukia - 7  
I don't care... - 0  
UlquiorraxOrihime - 2  
IchigoxLucy - 1  
IchigoxOrihime – 0

_**Thank you to everyone who participated in the decision of this! ^-^ I'll try my hardest to work it into the story. But once again, this is NOT a romance centered story, so it'll probably be minor-ish depending on how well I can work it into the story. Oh and just for fun, does anyone have a pet name for IchigoxErzaxHarribel?**_

_**Also, I watched the new Fairy Tail movie, Priestess of the Phoenix. It was AWESOME. I was crying for like, half the movie. ^-^ NaLu, NaLu everywhere. I recommend watching it! **_

_**Hope you enjoy this chapter! **_

* * *

_The New Guild in Town_

Chapter Eleven: The Begining

* * *

"Oi! Untie me right now! I'll fucking gut you like a fish if you don't!" Shirosaki yelled, struggling against the ropes he was tied up in. The ropes looked like a cocoon with only his head and feet sticking out.

"Ignore him." Ichigo said, turning his back to Shiro and looking worriedly at the wanted poster situated in the center of the table. "Where exactly did Grimmjow, Dondochakka, and Pesche find this?"

"We found it on the side of a fruit cart. Old man running it said Magic Council minions had been parading about asking for your whereabouts. Since no one was telling them shit they started putting the posters on almost every surface available." Grimmjow said, coming down the stairs with Lilynette right behind him.

"Oh well good morning sunshine." Ichigo greeted, smirking at Grimmjow's bed hair.

"Shut it Strawberry." Grimmjow muttered sitting down at the table. Ichigo glared and stuck his middle finger up at Grimmjow.

"So what are you going to do Master?" Harribel asked. Ichigo glanced at her and frowned.

"I don't really know. I suppose we could start by contacting the Soul Society to see if the posters have been posted there as well. You know Karakura Town has a lot of bounty hunters that pass through." Ichigo looked at the poster again.

"50,000 Jewels is a lot for what seems to be nothing more than a teenage punk. Most bounty hunters will probably think it's an easy job." Zommari pointed out. Everyone nodded.

"What exactly does 'various criminal activities' mean?" Ichigo questioned. Gin sighed.

"It means they don't have anything on you, but their working on coming up with some." He explained.

"Well crap. How am I supposed to defend myself against charges that don't exist?" Ichigo muttered to himself.

"You don't. You get caught and dragged to the Council, stuck in a cell for either a couple hours or a couple days while they find something to charge you with, and then you get tried by the big wigs and have to explain why you're innocent." Starrk said lazily.

"It's a major pain in the ass. Cells are small and uncomfortable, food's shitty, and it's boring as fuck." Grimmjow added, resting his head in his hand.

"Fuck that." Shiro said suddenly for the floor, startling almost everyone. "The bounty hunters and Council bastards are going to have to get past me first if they want to get their grubby mitts on Ichi." Shirosaki declared defiantly.

"Shi, violence isn't going to solve anythi – " Ichigo started.

"The hell it isn't! You expect me to just sit here and let them take you? It's most likely my fault in the first place that they're coming after you!" Shirosaki yelled, interrupting Ichigo.

"I too agree with Shirosaki. I think it would be best to defend you to the best of our abilities until further contact is made with the Magic Council. I do not wish for any unnecessary harm to fall upon you Master." Harribel said calmly.

"But I'm not just going to let you guys throw yourselves into battle for me – " Ichigo tried to say.

"Oh you mean like you did for us? Just let us protect you this time around. I owe you too many favors for my liking anyways." Grimmjow growled, glaring at Ichigo.

Before Ichigo could argue further, there was a loud banging on the door. Everyone turned to stare at the door for a few seconds before jumping into action.

"Grimmjow, take Master and Shirosaki behind the bar to hide. Barragan please take care of the poster. Lilynette you answer the door. Everyone else act casual." Harribel ordered, and everybody moved to follow instructions.

Lilynette got up from her seat and hurried over to the door, looking over her shoulder before opening it a crack and peeking out. Everyone watched as she froze. There were voices outside saying something, and Lilynette nodded her head before opening the door wide.

"It's the Soul Society!" She yelled loudly, backing out of the way to make room for the guests.

Inside stepped a rather large group of familiar faces – Renji Abarai, Rukia Kuchiki, Kenpachi Zaraki, Yachiru Kusajishi, Toshiro Hitsugaya, Rangiku Matsumoto, Retsu Unohana, Uryu Ishida, Sado Yasutora, and Orihime Inoue.

"Huh. This place actually doesn't look that bad. I was expecting worse with Ichigo running things." Rukia muttered, looking around.

"Nah, I was expecting something neat and orderly like this. Haven't you seen his room?" Renji said.

"Hey, where do you guys keep the booze?" Rangiku asked, running her hands through her hair.

"Over there." Ulquiorra pointed at the bar. Rangiku hurried over while everyone else came inside and looked around.

"Hey, why are Ichigo and Shirosaki underneath the bar with Grimmjow?" Rangiku questioned a bottle already in hand.

"Oh, we thought you were Council minions come to take Ichigo away." Lilynette answered from the doorway.

"You mean they haven't come already?" Toshiro questioned. Harribel shook her head.

"Not yet. I don't believe they are either. They're too cowardly to face us directly without legitimate charges on Master." She explained.

"Hm. Well have you already discussed a course of action?" Unohana asked as Toshiro walked over to Rangiku who was harassing Ichigo and Shirosaki. He reached and snatched the bottle of booze from Rangiku's hand and tossed it in a nearby trashcan.

"Aw, Captain! I wanted that!" Rangiku whined. Toshiro ignored her.

"Not completely. We were in the middle of a debate when you arrived." Barragan said gruffly.

"Hm. Pardon our interruption then. We are here on the orders of Captain-Commander Yamamoto to assist Mister Kurosaki and his allies in defending him from the bounty hunters and Magic Council." Unohana explained calmly. She then looked at the current antics of everyone. "Or at least some of us are." She corrected.

"Well that's good to hear. We're probably going to need as much help as we can get." Zommari commented.

Unohana, Harribel, Zommari, Barragan, and Toshiro – who had returned – all began discussing tactics while everyone else started bugging Ichigo.

"Ichigo!" Orihime shouted, hugging him excitedly before pulling away. "We all missed you! Especially Uryu – he didn't know what to do with himself with no one to bicker with." Orihime giggled.

"Eh, really? The high-and-mighty Quincy actually missed me?" Ichigo asked, grinning.

"Shut up. Who would miss you and your stupidity?" Uryu muttered.

"Yo Chad!" Ichigo said, fist bumping with Sado.

"Hey Ichigo. How have you been?" Sado asked, a small smile on his half-hidden face.

"It's been okay. Being a guild master is a major pain in the ass though." Ichigo replied, working on helping Shiro up, who was still in a rope cocoon.

"Why is Shirosaki tied up exactly?" Renji asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Because Ulquiorra is apparently into bondage." Came Shiro's nonchalant reply.

"You shut up." Ichigo growled at him. "It's because Shi was ready to go on a murderous rampage when he learned about the posters." Ichigo explained, looking pointedly at his twin.

"You fool! What did you do to get yourself on the Council's bad side?" Rukia yelled suddenly, kicking Ichigo in the shin.

"Ow! What was that for, midget?!" Ichigo hissed, clutching his shin. Rukia kicked the other one as well, irritation clearly shown on her face.

"I'm not a midget!" Rukia growled.

"Ow! Alri – ow – ght! Dammit Rukia that hurts!" Ichigo hollered, clutching his legs in an attempt to protect them from Rukia's wrath.

"Um, Rukia, I think he gets the point…" Orihime said nervously. Rukia huffed and ceased her beating of Ichigo, marching away.

"Thanks Orihime…" Ichigo muttered. Shirosaki snorted.

"Leave it to you to get your ass handed to you by a girl." He laughed.

"Quiet you, or I'll let Kenpachi do whatever he wants with you." Ichigo warned.

"Tch. Fine with me. It's been a while since I last had a good fight." Shiro replied casually.

"I'd actually prefer it if you didn't do that Shirosaki. Together you and Kenpachi would most likely blow our guild off the map." Starrk commented, having moved over to the bar.

"Pft, forget the guild. You juggernauts would probably blow Magnolia off the map." Grimmjow muttered.

"Hey idiots! Get over here, we need to talk!" Toshiro yelled, beckoning the large group of people over back to the table.

"Who are you calling an idiot?!" Almost everyone shouted back.

"Dinner's ready!" Nelliel called, poking her head out form the kitchen. "Eh? When did so many people get here?" She asked, startled.

"Just few minutes ago. Will there be enough for everyone?" Ichigo questioned. Nel looked thoughtful before pulling her head back into the kitchen. There was yelling and lots of loud bangs before Nel stuck her head out once again.

"Yeah. Pesche had a feeling we'd need extra so he prepared enough to feed everyone. Even the people put into slow-motion." Nel said happily, pointing a finger at the people off to one side of the guild. They were all in various poses with different expressions on their faces.

Ichigo thanked her as he dragged Shirosaki over to the large table. "Hey Ulquiorra, can you untie these ropes? I think Shi's calm now." Ichigo said loudly to the guy who had moved to sit in a corner to read.

"Yes Master." He replied, closing his book.

"And Barragan, I think it's safe to change their time back to normal speed now." Ichigo added, jerking his thump at the group of slow-motion people.

Barragan grunted in disapproval, but waved his hand anyways, dispelling his magic. There were several thumps and 'oofs!' which were no doubt people falling over.

"Dinner is served! I present to you, the Super Awesome Epic Brother Trio Pasta Special!" Nelliel said excitedly, balancing large trays with plates of pasta. Pesche was behind her with a basket of sliced bread and butter, and Dondochakka was behind him with a pan of what looked like extra sauce, a container of parmesan cheese, and various other items including silverware.

They served everybody a plate with their wanted toppings and sides, and everyone paused to say grace before digging in.

"Itadakimasu!" They said together, and then dug in.

* * *

_**AN: I WANTED TO POST THIS YESTERDAY SOOOOO BADLY IN CELEBRATION OF ICHIGO'S BIRTHDAY. But noooo. Real life is a bitch, you know? :T Oh well. Better slightly late than never, I suppose.**_

_**Um, one of the very few chapters with no random time skipping or point of view changing. Yay? **_

_**Let me know how I'm doing with the story by leaving a lovely review for me! It makes me happy, and happy authors stay on schedule! ^-^ **_

_**Uh…suggestions, constructive criticism, friendly pats on the back and the like are also welcome! **_

_**Ciao!  
~ Luci-chan**_


	12. Chapter Twelve: The Anger

_**AN: Hello dear readers! ^-^ It's me again. Hehehe…thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited and followed this story, it made me very happy! So here's chapter twelve! **_

_**I'm really sorry about the long wait, but I had a lot to do this past week. I planned and had a party for my friend's birthday, I started my summer homework, I rearranged my room, I helped my mother rearrange both her room and the living room, and a lot of other stuff. Please forgive me!**_

_**WARNING- Stupidty, trust issues, Unohana, swearing, plot points that piss off readers, angry chibi Captains, OOCness, cliffhangers, drama (like fo' real, yo. Dis shit just got serious) and other fun stuff. c:**_

_**Uh…I can't think of anything else to say now. So…**_

_**Happy Reading!**_

* * *

_The New Guild in Town  
_Chapter Twelve: The Anger

* * *

"Okay, so let's go over it again. What do we do if a bounty hunter comes along?" Toshiro asked, pointing at the chalk board. Everyone was seated at desks in front of him, making the guild look like a makeshift classroom, seating and chalk board provided by Szayel.

"Kick their asses." Kenpachi answered, only half listening to the lecture.

"Beat them up!" Yachiru cheered.

"Kill them." Shirosaki cackled.

"Fight back." Renji replied simply.

"Attack them." Ichigo said.

Toshiro exploded with fury.

"NO YOU MORONS! You're supposed to locate Ichigo and defend him to the best of your ability! Get Orihime next to him to protect with Santen Kesshun; Barragan sets up a time barrier around Ichigo to slow down any attacks that get past us so that he can dodge; everyone else is to surround him in a circle formation! After it's over Szayel gets rid of the bodies! It's not that hard to understand!" He roared.

Almost everyone sweatdropped over the small Captain's rage.

"I don't see why we can't just fight them without all the extra measures. Ichigo can take care of himself, can't you?" Kenpachi questioned, looking over at Ichigo.

"Of course I can, dumbass." Ichigo replied. "They just won't let me. I already tried convincing them to drop the defenses a bit." He grumbled, scowling.

"Damn straight! No one's going to lay a finger on my brother!" Shiro called from the back of the group.

"No one asked for your opinion, damn it!" Ichigo yelled back at his twin.

"…" Toshiro stood at the front with his shoulders slumped, defeated. "I give up on teaching you tactics. Someone else take over." He muttered, wandering off.

"See what you did Ichigo? If only you just followed our damn instructions, Toshiro wouldn't be…whatever he is now." Shiro said, pointing.

"How is this suddenly my fault? You're the one that – "

"ENOUGH! You're all giving me a headache!" Grimmjow exclaimed, rubbing his temples.

" – You know? And now you're blaming it on me?" Ichigo continued on, ignoring Grimmjow's outburst.

"Oi! Don't ignore me!" Grimmjow shouted.

"Shut up!" Both Ichigo and Shirosaki shouted.

"Why you little bastards, I'll – " Grimmjow began, but was interrupted by a soft cough.

"Now, now, let's all just calm down. It not wise for comrades to fight amongst themselves while in an emergency situation, don't you agree?" Unohana said calmly, flashing her signature 'I'll-gut-you-if-you-oppose-me-and-no-one-will-be- able-to-prove-a-thing' smile.

The fighting trio paled and bowed their heads obediently. "Yes Miss Captain Unohana!" They said in unison.

"I'm glad. Now, in regards to the plan for the defense of Ichigo Kurosaki, are there any questions or objections?" She asked politely, still flashing her killer smile.

Only silence met her statement.

"I'll take that as a no?" Still no one answered. "Okay. Now that we have agreed upon a strategy, shall we contact our allies and friends so that we may ask for more assistance?" She questioned.

"We can't. _Somebody_ broke our only communication Lacrima crystal." Ichigo said, giving a pointed look to Grimmjow.

"I expected something like that, so I brought one." Uryu said, holding up a Lacrima ball that he had somehow just pulled from his cape-thingy.

"Okay, good. Now let us begin contacting people." Rukia said, reaching and grabbing the ball. "Who's first?"

Ichigo and Shirosaki looked at each other across everyone for a moment before saying together,

"Shinji."

* * *

"Master, I thought you said we could trust them?" Mirajane said, frowning at Makarov. Makarov had been in a foul mood since the news of Ichigo's wanted poster had broken out.

"I was obviously mistaken. We should have never trusted criminals." Makarov muttered to himself, seething with rage.

"Master! Don't be so quick to judge. I still believe in Ichigo; surely this is just some misunderstanding. Ichigo didn't seem like someone who could stand to do something evil!" Erza exclaimed, standing in front of Makarov defiantly.

Makarov frowned and jumped down from the bar top. "Then you are a fool, Erza Scarlet." He muttered, pushing past her.

"Master…" Erza whispered quietly.

"Alright, listen up! Our trust has been broken because we believed in the wrong people. I will be going to apprehend Ichigo Kurosaki, Master of Hollow Moon. Those who wish to join me may." Makarov shouted, and turned on his heels. He opened the doors of Fairy Tail and began walking out.

"Master, please don't do this!" Erza yelled after him.

"You can try to stop me Erza, but I warn you – you will not succeed." He called back.

Erza squeezed her eyes shut, bowing her head and clenching her fists. Deciding that there was no other choice, she quickly went over to the table which Natsu, Lucy, Happy, and Gray were occupying.

"We have to go stop Master." She said, looking determinedly at her friends. "He's not thinking straight, and his decision is not right."

Lucy slammed her book closed and stood, putting a hand on her hip. "Count me in."

"I'll go too!" Natsu exclaimed.

"What about you Gray?" Erza asked.

He grinned. "Of course I'm going. Someone has to keep you guys out of trouble."

_But you're the one who'd get us in trouble…_Lucy thought.

"And Happy? Are you coming too?" Erza questioned, turning to the little cat.

"Aye sir!" The cat saluted them.

"Then let's go." Erza turned around and almost ran into Cana.

"Hey…bring Master back home safe, alright?" Cana said softly, crossing her arms in front of her.

"Don't worry Cana, we will." Lucy replied soothingly, putting a hand on her shoulder. Cana nodded and stepped aside, allowing them to walk past her.

"Let's go guys." Erza said, and led them from the guild.

* * *

"So basically you want me to risk my ass to protect Ichigo, risk my crew's ass to protect Ichigo, and risk getting arrested ourselves to protect Ichigo." Shinji said lazily, his frowning face in the communication lacrima.

"Pretty much." Grimmjow said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Oi, Shinji! Who the hell are you talking to?" They heard Hiyori yell in the background.

"That prick Grimmjow and the douchebag Shirosaki!" Shinji yelled back.

"Hey! Who the fuck are you calling a prick, huh?" Grimmjow snarled, seizing the all between his hands. "You're lucky you're halfway across Fiore, otherwise I'd fucking strangle you!" Grimmjow hissed.

"There, there, Grimmy. It's okay." Shirosaki said, patting Grimmjow's head soothingly.

"And you! Stop petting my head! And stop calling me Grimmy! It's Grimmjow, damn it!" Grimmjow yelled, rounding on Shirosaki. The ball in his hands was forgotten and flung through the air.

"Oh shi – " Shirosaki yelled, pointing.

"I got it!" Ichigo shouted, diving across the room. Ichigo caught it just before it hit the ground, pulling it in and hugging it to his chest.

There were multiple sighs of relief.

"That was a good catch." Harribel congratulated, bending over to help Ichigo up.

"Thanks Harribel." Ichigo said, taking her hand and standing. He glanced down at Shinji, who was looking bored. "Hey Shinji, long time no see, huh?" Ichigo asked, grinning.

"Hello idiot. I was wondering when I'd have to see your ugly mug." Shinji greeted, yawning.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Are you going to help us out or not?" Ichigo asked, frowning at him.

"Nope. Too much trouble." Shinji replied.

"Is that what I said when Hiyori was on your ass about cleaning? No. I even put on that stupid fucking pink apron of Kensei's to help you out. Or how about that time the Magic Council had some leads on your whereabouts and me and Shiro raised hell on the other side of town so you had time to get away? We spent _six days_ in fucking jail before Urahara got us out. How about the other time when – "

"Do you have to bring all that up?" Shinji groaned, tilting his head back. "Fine, we'll help you out. But if the Magic Council arrests us, I expect you to break us out." He said, frowning at Ichigo.

"Deal." Ichigo grinned. Shinji sighed.

"Hiyori, get everyone to pack up their shit! We're moving to Hollow Moon!" Shinji shouted.

"Do yourself! I'm busy!" Hiyori yelled back.

"What the hell is so goddamn important – Ichigo, we'll be there in an hour or so. Probably less time than that." Shinji said before cutting off the transmission.

"And _that's_ how you get shit _done_!" Ichigo yelled, glaring at Shirosaki and Grimmjow. "Was that so fucking hard? No. Who the hell put you on negotiation duty anyways?"

"No one. We lost rock-paper-scissors and got stuck doing this." Shirosaki explained, stretching.

"…I'm not even going to bother getting mad." Ichigo muttered, rubbing his temples in an attempt to get the oncoming headache to go away. He sat himself down on a nearby chair.

"Master, are you alright?" Harribel asked, sitting next to him and putting a hand on his shoulder. Ichigo nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just want to take a nice hot bath, put on some decent clothes, and sleep." He explained, gesturing to his outfit. He hadn't had a chance to change since he got back from the mission, so he was still wearing the tattered blood-stained clothes.

"I can take care of things around here for you while you go do that, Master." Harribel offered.

"Nah, you have a lot to do right now yourself. Whipping this lazy ass guild into shape isn't going to be easy." Ichigo chuckled.

"Hm…" Harribel sighed, glancing around. "Yes Master."

There was a pounding on the newly repaired doors, and everyone in the building froze. Harribel stood quickly and pointed at Shirosaki, who was brawling playfully with Grimmjow.

"Shirosaki, answer the door while everyone gets into position. You look like Master enough that it'll buy us a bit of time." She ordered, grabbing Ichigo's hand and dragging him to the open space at the center of the guild. "Orihime!" She yelled.

"Yes! I'm coming!" Orihime called, hurrying over.

"Positions everyone!" Harribel yelled, causing everyone to scramble to get into a circular formation around Ichigo and Orihime, while Shirosaki headed towards the door. They all began preparing to use their magic, even Ichigo and Orihime.

Shirosaki reached the doors and drew his sword, then carefully pulled one open and peeked outside. He stared for a few seconds before opening it a bit wider.

"Old man, is that you?" Shirosaki questioned, lowering his sword and opening the door all the way to reveal a short old man standing outside. "What are you doing here…?"

"I'm here to see Ichigo." Makarov said, frowning.

* * *

_**AN: Ok, this chapter is teetering between shitty and genius. I honestly don't know anymore. Hahaha, anyways, thank you once again to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed, I hope you continue to read this story. **_

_**Please review and tell me what you think, how this could improve, give suggestions…and pretty much anything else you want to throw in there. **_

_**Uh…this story might be slowing down because of the fact that my school year is starting soon (In two weeks actually). I don't know yet though, I'll have to see how my schedule works. **_

_**Until next time, ciao!  
~ Luci-chan**_


	13. Chapter Thirteen: The Gathering

_**AN: Welp, this chapter is late. My apologies. **_

_**Buuuut, yesterday was the big day! It was my first day of school this year. I'm hoping it's as much of a breeze as last year's was. I don't know tough with Algebra, all honors classes (including Honors Spanish), music, dance, art, and PE. My school really loaded our schedules up this year. :T **_

_**Anyway,I present to you chapter….*checks online* thirteen! Yay! I love the number thirteen, ya know? It's my lucky number…**_

_**Also, the last chapter didn't get very many reviews, so I'm hoping this one has better results.**_

_**WARNING – Minor romance-type stuff, fighting, badly written fight scenes, stupidity, dramatics, swearing, OOCness, council bashing, short chapterness, cliff hangers, and other fun stuff. c:**_

_**That's all for now.**_

_**Happy reading!**_

* * *

_The New Guild in Town  
_Chapter Thirteen: The Gathering

* * *

"You know I'm not going to go with you without a fight, right?" Ichigo asked, drawing the sword that was sheathed at his hip.

"I expect nothing less from you, Ichigo." Makarov said calmly, ditching his floral shirt in preparation for his magic.

"Please be prepared." Ichigo warned, taking up a loose stance.

"Of course." Makarov replied, rolling his shoulders.

They were standing in the small clearing behind the guild, surrounded by tense guild members of Hollow Moon and allies. Shirosaki was standing off to the side, mask on, blade drawn, and looking ready to kill.

That was most likely going to be the case if Ichigo began losing in the fight, however small that possibility was. Harribel was laying a calming hand on his shoulder, muttering words of reassurance to him.

She herself was watching worriedly however, her heart screaming at her to put a stop to this. However this was a fight between Ichigo and Makarov, one where Ichigo was defending his honor, the guild's honor, and his innocence. Hopefully Makarov would be able to think sensibly and listen to Ichigo's side of the story before he was wounded too badly by Ichigo.

Orihime was standing near them, hand clutching the hem of Ulquiorra's jacket for reassurance. Ulquiorra did nothing to stop her, instead laying a hesitant hand on her head in an awkward calming gesture.

Ichigo stared down at Makarov with a scowl. "Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be." Makarov muttered, and flexed his body, suddenly growing around ten times his original size. Ichigo wasted no time either, launching himself high into the air and swinging his sword down as he descended. It left a long shallow cut going from Makarov's shoulder down his chest.

Makarov winced in pain and reached up and swatted Ichigo's much smaller form to the ground.

Ichigo landed on his back because he was caught by surprise. He quickly lifted himself off the ground, and glared up at Makarov.

_Well obviously just slashing at him isn't going to work. He's too large right now. It's almost like fighting Yammy. _Ichigo thought, sparing a second to glance over at the giant. _But it'll have to work for now._

Makarov took the chance to swing his fist at Ichigo, but Ichigo quickly Flash Stepped away just in time. Losing his balance, Makarov stumbled, giving Ichigo an opening to jump in and give Makarov another minor wound.

He quickly backed off, putting some space between Makarov and himself.

"I still don't know why you're doing this, old man. I didn't do anything, but you're still going to try to capture me?" Ichigo asked, dodging Makarov's fist once again.

"Why would the Magic Council put wanted posters up everywhere – " Makarov swung his leg out to kick Ichigo aside and succeeded, "If you're an innocent man?"

Ichigo groaned from his landing spot, a good twenty feet away from where he was standing before. That was definitely going to leave some painful bruises, maybe even a cracked rib or two.

Lifting himself painfully once again, he looked straight into Makarov's eyes. "Because they're a bunch of lying, cheating, scandalous, idiots. They're trying to force my little brother into submission by capturing me, and cover their own asses." Ichigo spat, raising his sword again.

He dashed forward and pushed himself off the ground, gripping his sword in a way where it would no doubt stab Makarov, and with Ichigo's added force, would probably go as deep as the hilt.

However there was a cry from below, one quite unfamiliar to Ichigo, which made him hesitate.

"Ichigo! Please, stop!"

He made a split-second decision and performed an acrobatic flip, landing unsteadily on his feet before swiveling his head to find the source of the cry.

There stood Erza Scarlet, out of breath and sweating, staring at Ichigo, her friends behind her.

Lucy waved nervously, Natsu doing the same. Gray was watching with a frown and Happy was flying above.

"You don't…have to do this…" Erza panted, and it was unclear which of the fighting pair she was speaking to. "You can…work it out other ways!" She exclaimed.

"Erza stand back. This is between Ichigo and me," Makarov said sternly, getting into a fighting stance once more.

"No! Master, we agree with Erza! You shouldn't be doing this. And I'm pretty sure if you were thinking clearly you wouldn't be!" Lucy shouted up at him. "He's only a kid, Master. And you want to send him to the Council Jail?"

Ichigo looked up at Makarov seriously. "I'll explain myself peacefully if you'll listen peacefully. I mean, I don't want to fight you Makarov; or at least not in this way, under these circumstances."

Makarov looked down thoughtfully at both Ichigo and his guild members.

"Please Master, I'm begging you. Give Ichigo a chance to explain himself to us! Please…" Erza pleaded, finally catching her breath.

Makarov gave a frown rivaling Ichigo's scowl in grumpiness, before slowly shrinking himself back to his normal size.

"Fine. But if I don't like what I'm hearing, I'm going to resume my capture of you. Understood?" Makarov asked and Ichigo nodded. He was instantly joined by Shirosaki, who began uncharacteristically fussing over him. He was shortly joined by a worried Harribel.

"Are you alright Master?" Harribel asked, and Ichigo nodded, wincing as Shirosaki pressed one of his growing and quickly becoming tender bruises along his ribs.

"No you're not, Master. Nelliel!" Harribel yelled, and the green haired woman quickly made her way over.

"Shh! I'm fine! Shiro can heal me!" Ichigo hissed. His brother shook his head.

"I haven't been able to master healing bruises of anyone other than myself yet, only cuts and the like." Shirosaki frowned, checking for more bruising.

"See, so just stay quiet and let us heal you Master. Please." There was something about the way Harribel said it that made Ichigo grudgingly agree to allow Nelliel to slobber/puke all over him once they were inside.

"Let's head inside." Rukia said, gesturing everyone. Harribel helped Ichigo through the rocky and uneven terrain on the way to the front of the guild, shooing Shirosaki ahead to keep an eye on Makarov.

Erza quietly approached Ichigo, and looked him over.

"I'm sorry Ichigo. If I had tried harder at stopping him, perhaps your fight might have been avoided and you wouldn't be hurt like this…" Erza apologized sadly, but Ichigo quickly shook his head.

"It's okay Erza. I'm sure it would have happened one way or another. No need to apologize. Besides, it's not that bad. Nothing a little spit can heal anyways." He grinned at her, and Erza felt herself blush.

She looked at Harribel who was glancing worriedly at Ichigo. "Can I help?" She asked, gesturing at where Harribel was supporting Ichigo.

"I don't really need any support, Harribel's just being – " Ichigo started, but was interrupted.

"Of course." Harribel said.

Erza then moved over and held Ichigo's left side with Harribel on his right, helping him inside.

* * *

_**AN: Ok, uhm…yeah. Sorry about the shortness, bu I really wanted to hurry and get this up. Until next time. Review!**_

_**~ Luci-chan**_

**EDIT: 09/03/13 - Hey guys, thanks for all the support so far. I'm going to be putting this story on a (hopefully) short break in favor of my other stories. This is due to a number of reasons, a few of which I'll list here. 1) This story isn't getting as many reviews as before, so it's gone down on my scale of importance. What can I say, I'm a greedy author that loves reviews. ^-^ 2) My other stories have not been updated in FORVER, and I feel the need to update them. 3) School is seriously kicking my ass. And it's only the fourth week. D: 4) I've joined dome new fandoms to pass time until the next chapter of Bleach came out, and now I'm in them for life. Homestuck, Hetalia, Harry Potter, and Free! to name a few. **

**Hope to write for you all again soon - Ciao!**

**~ Luci-Chan**


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